Breast cancer: Tracing its roots
Breast cancer is curable. The important aspect about breast cancer is that the early symptoms need to be identified.
If there are any of the signs of breast cancer, the patient must immediately consult the care provider. Next, the patient may have to undergo a series of clinical tests to accurately diagnose the ailment which can be of any dimension.
Depending on the nature of the disease and the extent to which breast cancer may have spread, the treatment is suggested. The normal treatment is surgery which can be of different types.
BREASTS: LET’S KNOW THEM BETTER
Only mammals have breasts. Each mammal has a pair of breasts. A breast is a pair of glandular organ. Among the females of the human beings or Homo sapiens, the breasts have a typical rounded form. The males have undeveloped flat breasts.
In non-human mammals, the glandular organ is biologically termed ‘mammary gland’. The breast of a mature mammal secretes milk for babies and infants. This milk secreted from the mature females’ breasts is ideal for the newborn particularly because it is rich in all the substances necessary for the growth and development of the baby. Mention may be made of vitamins, nutrients and especially antibodies that make the infant immune to the attacks of germs and bacteria.
BREAST CANCER: WHAT IS IT?
Breast cancer is the name of the ailment that primarily affects the breasts. If it is not treated, it may turn fatal. To understand this syndrome, we need to know what cancer is.
Well, there are more than 100 types of cancer of which only a few are lethal. The typical nature of this degenerative ailment is that there is an uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells. This number of excessive cells attack and demolish other tissues of the body.
CELLS, GENES & CANCER
Cancer can start from any part of the body – be it a tissue or an organ formed by cells which are again constituted by genes. The body of a mature human being is made up of an average of 30 trillion cells. The majority of these cells remain in a state of constant flux or turnover what with they dying out to be replaced by healthy ones.
For instance, the healthy cells of the blood, lining of the stomach and skin reproduce regularly by dividing into two daughter cells – a process called mitosis.
This replacement and reproduction processes are monitored and regulated by the inbuilt mechanism of the body. This finely tuned regulatory process further carry out the very important function of ensuring that the cells divide or get replaced only when it is required. This monitoring and regulation is required to ensure the correct and shape and size of the cells.
What is more, there are alternative backup processes if the first vital monitoring and regulatory system fail. Cancerous or abnormal cells will occur and develop to spread to other parts of the body if all these safety measures do not function.
GENES: The genes are the building blocks of cells. The genes are chips of biochemical instructions, each of which is an individual segment of a long, coiled molecule of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). The instructions relate to the formation of protein in a cell. The cell protein is the determinant factor in the cell of a human, and the overall functioning of the human body.
They also control chemical reactions, and also determine the mode of transportation of materials to and from the cell.
Nonetheless, a cancerous cell malfunctions owing to three to seven mutations or permanent gene alterations over a long period. The convergence or coming together of the mutations cause the cellto turn cancerous.
