We're late but here's some info:

Go get your boobs smashed ladies!!

http://www.nbcam.com/

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States. According to the American Cancer Society, it's estimated that About 178,480 women in the United States will be found to have invasive breast cancer in 2007. About 40,460 women will die from the disease this year. Right now there are slightly over 2 million women living in the United States who have been treated for breast cancer.

If you're worried about developing breast cancer, or if you know someone who has been diagnosed with the disease, one way to deal with your concerns is to get as much information as possible. In this section you'll find important background information about what breast cancer is and how it develops.

Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that grows in one or both of the breasts. Breast cancer usually develops in the ducts or lobules, also known as the milk-producing areas of the breast.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women (after lung cancer). Although African-American women have a slightly lower incidence of breast cancer after age 40 than Caucasian women, they have a slightly higher incidence rate of breast cancer before age 40. However, African-American women are more likely to die from breast cancer at every age. Breast cancer is much less common in males; by comparison, the disease is about 100 times more common among women. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2007 some 2,030 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among men in the United States.

Types of breast cancer

There are several different types of breast cancer that can be divided into two main categories - noninvasive cancers and invasive cancers. Noninvasive cancer may also be called "carcinoma in situ." Noninvasive breast cancers are confined to the ducts or lobules and they do not spread to surrounding tissues. The two types of noninvasive breast cancers are ductal carcinoma in situ (referred to as DCIS) and lobular carcinoma in situ (referred to as LCIS).

It is known that hormones in a woman's body, such as estrogen and progesterone, can play a role in the development of breast cancer. In breast cancer, estrogen causes a doubling of cancer cells every 36 hours. The growing tumor needs to increase its blood supply to provide food and oxygen. Progesterone seems to cause stromal cells (the woman's own cells to send out signals for more blood supply to feed the tumor. (Source: Dr. V. Craig Jordan, vice president and scientific director for the medical science division at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia as quoted in NY Times, Hormones And Cancer: By Gina Kolata, Published: December 26, 2006)

* Non-invasive breast cancer. The majority of non-invasive breast cancers are DCIS. In DCIS, the cancer cells are found only in the milk duct of the breast. If DCIS is not treated, it may progress to invasive cancer.

In LCIS, the abnormal cells are found only in the lobules of the breast. Unlike DCIS, LCIS is not considered to be a cancer. It is more like a warning sign of increased risk of developing an invasive breast cancer in the same or opposite breast. While LCIS is a risk factor for invasive cancer, it doesn't actually develop into invasive breast cancer in many women.
* Invasive breast cancer. Invasive or infiltrating breast cancers penetrate through normal breast tissue (such as the ducts and lobules) and invade surrounding areas. They are more serious than noninvasive cancers because they can spread to other parts of the body, such as the bones, liver, lungs, and brain.


There are several kinds of invasive breast cancers. The most common type is invasive ductal carcinoma, which appears in the ducts and accounts for about 80 percent of all breast cancer cases. There are differences in the various types of invasive breast cancer, but the treatment options are similar for all of them.

Not all breast cancers are alike
Not all breast cancers are alike - there are different stages of breast cancer based on the size of the tumor and whether the cancer has spread. For doctor and patient, knowing the stage of breast cancer is the most important factor in choosing among treatment options. Doctors use a physical exam, biopsy, and other tests to determine breast cancer stage.

Stages of Breast Cancer
The most common system used to describe the stages of breast cancer is the AJCC/TNM (American Joint Committee on Cancer/Tumor-Nodes-Metastases) system. This system takes into account the tumor size and spread, whether the cancer has spread to lymph nodes, and whether it has spread to distant organs (metastasis).

All of this information is then combined in a process called stage grouping. The stage is expressed as a Roman numeral. After stage 0 (carcinoma in situ), the other stages are I through IV (1-4). Some of the stages are further sub-divided using the letters A, B, and C. In general, the lower the number, the less the cancer has spread. A higher number, such as stage IV (4), means a more advanced cancer.

These are the stages of breast cancer:

Stage 0 - Stage 0 is carcinoma in situ, early stage cancer that is confined to the ducts or the lobules, depending on where it started. It has not gone into the tissues in the breast nor spread to other organs in the body.

* Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS): This is the most common type of noninvasive breast cancer, when abnormal cells are in the lining of a duct. DCIS is also called intraductal carcinoma. DCIS sometimes becomes invasive cancer if not treated.
* Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS): This condition begins in the milk-making glands but does not go through the wall of the lobules. LCIS seldom becomes invasive cancer; however, having LCIS in one breast increases the risk of cancer for both breasts.

Stage I - Stage I is an early stage of invasive breast cancer. In Stage I, cancer cells have not spread beyond the breast and the tumor is no more than 2 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch) across.
Stage II - Stage II is one of the following:

* The tumor in the breast is no more than 2 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch) across. The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.
* The tumor is between 2 and 5 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch to 2 inches). The cancer may have spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.
* The tumor is larger than 5 centimeters (2 inches). The cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.

Stage III - Stage III may be a large tumor, but the cancer has not spread beyond the breast and nearby lymph nodes. It is locally advanced cancer.

* Stage IIIA - Stage IIIA is one of the following:
o The tumor in the breast is smaller than 5 centimeters (2 inches). The cancer has spread to underarm lymph nodes that are attached to each other or to other structures.
o The tumor is more than 5 centimeters across. The cancer has spread to the underarm lymph nodes.
* Stage IIIB - Stage IIIB is one of the following:
o The tumor has grown into the chest wall or the skin of the breast.
o The cancer has spread to lymph nodes behind the breastbone.
o Inflammatory breast cancer [insert link to page on inflammatory breast cancer] is a rare type of Stage IIIB breast cancer. The breast looks red and swollen because cancer cells block the lymph vessels in the skin of the breast.
* Stage IIIC - Stage IIIC is a tumor of any size. It has spread in one of the following ways:
o The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes behind the breastbone and under the arm.
o The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes under or above the collarbone.

Stage IV - Stage IV is distant metastatic cancer. The cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
Recurrent cancer - Recurrent cancer is cancer that has come back (recurred) after a period of time when it could not be detected. It may recur locally in the breast or chest wall as another primary cancer, or it may recur in any other part of the body, such as the bone, liver, or lungs, which is generally referred to as metastatic cancer.

Resources:
American Cancer Society
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Cancer Institute

thank you Rhonda

Thanks for posting this! And as always, everyone, donate if you can. There are lots of charity walks going on this month and lot of peoples that can use a sponsor.

CHIC0 said:

yes!!!!!

It's easy to donate these days, almost everything is offered in a "pink box" (shampoo, body soap, body lotion, cereal, etc.) and a portion is donated to breast cancer research...do your part!

PaisleyPark5083 said:

right!!!!!

I tried to get the tech to print out my scans cuz they would have made really cool wall art

she wouldn't

FREE SCREENINGS AT MY PLACE IN ATLANTA!!!

DexMSR said:

just stank....I swear...

Rhondab said:

ALL BREASTS ARE WELCOME!!!

JUST NO MANTITS!!

DexMSR said:

you mean moobs

hey guys get breast cancer too

Yes they do ...

butterfli25 said:

Dex just doesn't wanna squeeze man boobs....

Rhondab said:

I cannot blame him really

shanti0608 said:

Did you know, PR maverick, Edward Bernays was the one who got women to smoke cigarettes. Through a propaganda campaign with cigarette makers, he convinced women that smoking equaled independence from men. It worked, too.

I just bought my own cute ribbon..

Thanks for the thread Rhondab!!

Be sure to check your community for inexpensive mammograms! The prices range from $125.00 to $900.00 plus.

I had a mammogram last May which my insurance paid for. I received a bill for $50.15. Between talking to my insurance company, and the radiology group, this was the breakdown:
$371.00 for the mammogram
$531.00 for the radiologist to read the mammogram
$50.15 for the "reading portion" which was a provider outside of my insurance. My insurance luckily said they would pay it, but what the hell's a "reading portion"? When I researched local facilities, I found a breast center that only charges $125.00.

Many states require insurance companies to fully cover mammograms. Shop around, so your out of pocket fee is less.

xplnyrslf said:

Good advice! and just to note, while it is uncomfortable..it is not as painful as some say!! please get it done

my best friend is hosting a lunch next week 2 raise $ 4 breast cancer research


but i have 2 work

might have 2 take the day off

Mach said:

Patients have a right to a copy of their chart, including xrays. Call medical records, and see what needs to be done to obtain a copy of your mammogram. There's usually a policy where you need to go in, provide ID, and sign papers. There will probably be a fee for the film.
We frequenty have patients who come in, with a copy of their xrays, before surgery.

Every woman over the age of 40 should have annual mammograms, according to experts from the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute.

Now there's digital mammograms:

http://www.cancer.gov/can...DMISTQandA

:http://www.opa.medicine.arizona.edu/news/mar01/digital.htm :

"We have the flexibility to instantly magnify and manipulate those images to make them as clear as possible. We think this is going to eliminate a lot of call-backs for women whose mammograms weren't clear enough the first time," said Lisa Evans, chief technologist at the Tucson Breast Center.

Evans estimated digital mammography would shorten most women's mammography exam to 10 to 15 minutes, which is about half the time of an exam using traditional film mammography. Dr. Granstrom added that for women with dense breasts, digital mammography uses significantly less radiation. Also, there is much better visibility of the skin with the new technology.
[Edited 10/12/07 6:51am]

Stats from WebMD:

To understand the effect that a family history of breast cancer can have on your chances of getting the disease, consider the numbers below. It’s important to remember that everyone’s case is different, and these numbers may not show what will happen in your case.

Out of 100 average women, about 12 will get breast cancer.
Out of 100 women with a family history of breast cancer, between 24 and 60 will get breast cancer, depending on how strong the family history is.2 To put it another way, having a family history makes you 2 to 5 times more likely to get breast cancer than the average woman.
Out of 100 women who have inherited a breast cancer gene, between 36 and 84 will get breast cancer.3 To put it another way, having a BRCA gene change makes you 3 to 7 times more likely to get breast cancer than the average woman.

For women with breast implants, info from the Mayo Clinic website:


"Breast implants may decrease the ability of mammograms to reveal breast cancer, because implants can obscure the image of a tumor. Still, studies show that mammograms are an effective way to screen for breast cancer in women with breast implants.

If you have breast implants, you may want to consider getting your mammograms at a facility that does a large number of these examinations annually. For women with breast implants, the mammogram procedure may be slightly different and the images more difficult to interpret. For these reasons, you may benefit from a radiologist experienced in such examinations. If you have silicone implants, it may also be recommended that you have an additional imaging exam (MRI) three years after you receive your implants and every two years thereafter to check for implant rupture.

There's a slight risk that your breast implants may rupture during a mammogram. But the benefits of mammography in the early detection of breast cancer outweigh this risk.

Breast cancer screening guidelines are the same for all women, whether they have breast implants or not. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends a screening mammogram every one to two years after age 40, depending on your risk."

http://www.mayoclinic.com...ts/AN00419
[Edited 10/12/07 7:06am]

xplnyrslf said:

Yes I know - I meant right then at the scan it was one of those new digital scan/print things - she said I could come back after the scan was read and get a copy - just haven't yet

xplnyrslf said:

This is what I had - took no more then 5 minutes total to do both breasts and the image was stunning - that is why I thought it would make cool wall art- just amazing to see the tiny details inside the breast