| Initially, I was going to do my project
on a totally different topic. Yet, when a close associate at work became
ill with breast cancer once again after just celebrating ten blessed years
of being cancer-free, I decided that learning about this disease was much
more important.
Why study
breast cancer?
Breast cancer is a huge killer of women today, but its former inevitable
deadliness can now be somewhat prevented due to new findings in diagnosis
and treatment. There are approximately fifteen separate types of breast
cancer which are titled according to the past of the breast where it originates.
Ductal carcinomas make up the largest group and begin in the breast ducts.
Another group that makes up only a small percentage of cancer is aptly
called lobular carcinomas because it starts in the lobules. These are
located in the fatty tissue of the breast.
More cancer occurs in the upper, outer part of the left breast, than
in the whole left breast. To rid cancerous tumors, the area must be removed
surgically, killed with chemotherapy, or killed with radiation therapy.
Breast cancer occurs mostly in women over 40, yet it has been known to
strike younger females and even about 9,000 males annually. In “Breast
Cancer,” Elaine Landau says, “According to the National Cancer
Institute, every three minutes, another woman is diagnosed with it (cancer).”
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