Breast cancer is a malignant formation that threatens not only the health and beauty of a woman, but also her life. The number of sick patients is growing in Russia by leaps and bounds. If even 30 years ago, over a year, doctors recorded 6 thousand cases of the disease in the last stages, today this figure has increased by two and a half times. In this article, we will try to describe in detail what threatens the 3rd degree of breast cancer. The life expectancy of a woman, her treatment, the symptoms that she feels, what is the prevention of a dangerous disease - read about all this below.
What is cancer of the 3rd degree dangerous?
To begin with, we will understand what this ailment is. Doctors say that stage 3 breast cancer in women is a fairly large tumor. In diameter, it reaches five centimeters, while it can spread to the skin: the epidermis darkens, swells, takes the form of a lemon peel. In the lymph nodes in the armpit area there are metastases: they are soldered and dense, significantly increased in size. The tumor in the first two stages often goes unnoticed, so a woman goes to the doctor when the disease is already actively progressing.
Stage 3 cancer is a systemic disease. This means that for its treatment it is not enough just to cut out the malignant formation. Most likely, the tumor has already launched microscopic metastases into the internal organs. Accordingly, this course of events threatens relapse, the
development of cancers in other locations, amputation of the mammary gland, in especially advanced cases, the disease can be fatal. If
cancer is not treated with therapy after surgery, relapse occurs in 100% of cases.
Risk factors
As you can see, the 3rd degree of breast cancer can lead to irreversible consequences. The patient's life expectancy depends on her knowledge: the more she knows about the disease, the sooner she will notice the negative processes in her body. In this case, doctors focus on factors that can lead to the formation of a tumor. Firstly, it’s a woman’s lifestyle. The disease is risked by childless older women or those who first became pregnant after 30 years, young ladies who have frequent contact with a radiation source, prone to eating fatty foods. The tumor threatens patients older than 40 years who are genetically predisposed to the disease, as well as those who have begun menstruation early (before 12 years) and menopause has come late.
Secondly, the level of health affects tumor formation. Cancer is affected by patients who have high levels of estrogen in the blood, there are metabolic disorders, obesity, endocrinological problems, and thyroid diseases. Under the supervision of a doctor should be ladies who have had cancer of the genitals and breasts, as well as those who take oral contraception, in which there are changes in the mammary gland.
Other reasons
Breast cancer disease occurs for a reason. It can be preceded by a variety of pathological processes in the tissues. For example, the formation of foci of fibrocystic mastopathy due to repeated dishormonal hyperplasias. Their reasons are as follows: all the same endocrine disorders that develop after abortions, operations to increase breast size, appendage diseases, improper feeding of a newborn baby.
Unfortunately, the risk of "earning" the disease is directly proportional to the size of the mammary gland. The larger the bust, the more carefully you need to monitor its condition. The development of cancer is also facilitated by anatomical abnormalities, disorders that formed even when the woman was an embryo and was in the womb. We are talking about the presence of additional lobules of glandular tissue, congenital or genetic tendency to benign tumors - fibroadenomas. All of these formations must be removed surgically, as they are difficult to distinguish from incipient cancer.
Symptoms
It is sad, but usually in the later stages, ladies notice breast cancer. Symptoms and signs are manifested in different ways. The main one is a lump that can be felt in the chest during palpation. It is not necessarily a malignant formation, but visiting the clinic will not be superfluous. The location of tumors can be different: both in the left and in the right breast. Bilateral cancers are observed only in 2.5% of cases: a node in the second mammary gland can be either an independent formation or metastasis. In half of the patients, cancer “likes” to be located externally closer to the armpit.
Breast cancer, the symptoms and signs of which do not appear with mild forms of the disease, in the third stage worries a woman with dense formations. They do not hurt, but create discomfort: sprouting into the chest wall, become hard as a stone, and the bust itself often turns into a motionless statue. If the skin is affected, then the ailment is noticeable to the naked eye: the epidermal cover is deformed, pulling in the nipple. From it can go bloody or whitish discharge. When the lymph nodes are affected, they enlarge and create inconvenience in the armpit area.
Atypical types of cancer
Usually grade 3 breast cancer, the life expectancy during which depends on the competent actions of a woman and a doctor, has several varieties. In addition to the standard clinical picture described above, the tumor can take unusual atypical forms:
- Mastitis-like cancer. It is characterized by a rapid course, soreness of the chest, its increase. The skin is red, hot to the touch, stretched and tense. The disease is very similar to mastitis, so tragic errors in diagnosis are common.
- A greasy form. There is redness of the skin of the bust, which spreads far beyond its borders, has serrated uneven edges. A woman can have a sharp increase in temperature. The tumor is easily confused with the usual erysipelas.
- Carapace cancer. Very dangerous form. It arises due to infiltration in the crevices of the skin and lymph nodes, leading to dense tuberosity. It appears in the form of a shell that covers most of the chest.
- Paget's Cancer. It captures the nipple: it peels off, secretes fluid. Often it is mistaken for eczema. If left untreated, the cancer penetrates deep into the tissues, forming a malignant node there.
All these forms are not like ordinary cancer. But for an experienced specialist to diagnose a particular kind of disease will not be difficult.
What is going on in the body?
According to the histological structure, breast cancer in women refers to adenocarcinomas or the so-called solid form of the disease with many transitional forms. Tumors are lobular and ductal, depending on the contours and distribution. It is worth knowing that in addition to ordinary malignant tumors in the breast, non-epithelial types of cancer, for example, sarcoma, can occur. This happens quite rarely - only in 1% of cases. Their diagnosis and treatment are similar to an ordinary tumor.
Breast cancer can be divided into two types, depending on the presence or absence of a special state of estrogen receptors (ERC). It can dramatically change the course of the disease, often the therapy strategy that the doctor chooses depends on it. Those tumors that have an ERC are more characteristic of menopause. The same goes for more primary cancers - about 70%. ERC-negative malignancies are more common in girls before menopause.
Metastases
These are very dangerous formations for health and life, which are often found in the last stages of the disease when a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. Metastases are the same tumor cells that with the help of lymph flow (and it is very developed in the chest tissues) are spread to the lymph nodes. Initial malignant lesions affect primarily the axillary, subscapular and subclavian parts of the body. Then metastases creep into the neck area, the second breast and the area around it. Sometimes metastases appear before the cancer itself has been detected. In this case, you need to immediately conduct all examinations to exclude a cancerous lesion of the breast.
Hematogenously - through the circulatory system - metastases enter other organs, where they begin to parasitize. Usually they are located in the brain, liver, lungs, pleura, bone tissue. If the formations hooked on the skeleton, then most likely they will “settle” in the pelvic area, on the skull, spine, ribs, thighs and humerus. In this case, the woman will feel aching pains that can easily be confused with disorders of the musculoskeletal system. In the future, they will become excruciating, sharp and unbearable, if not cured of their root cause - cancer.
Diagnostics
Breast cancer therapy can be quite successful if the disease is just beginning to develop. In other cases, they often resort to more aggressive methods of treatment. But before deciding on possible ways, the doctor must make the correct diagnosis. He must confirm or debunk the assumption of cancer, as well as determine the type of tumor that he is dealing with. In addition, the doctor determines the stage of the disease and the location of the formation. Diagnostic methods include: ultrasound, MRI (magnetic resonance therapy) and mammography - an x-ray of the breast.
Also, the woman will be asked to do a biopsy - a histological analysis of the affected area of ​​the tissue. The procedure is painful, therefore, it is performed using local anesthesia on an outpatient basis. In addition, the patient is referred for ultrasound of the abdominal cavity, a radioisotope examination of the spine, and an X-ray of the lungs. In addition, you will need to pass all general tests and undergo a digital examination of the lymph nodes.
Treatment
It depends on the size and type of the tumor, the presence of metastases. If a woman has breast cancer too late, surgery will be inevitable. This applies to the third and fourth stages of the disease. To begin with, they will try to “kill” the tumor using chemotherapy or hormone therapy. It will not be possible to completely get rid of the malignant formation, but you can make it operable and achieve a reduction in size. As for the surgical intervention itself, the doctors are trying to completely excise the tumor and diseased lymph nodes. The amount of work can be different: depending on the size of the education. Sometimes you have to cut a whole chest.
After breast cancer surgery, radiation therapy is prescribed. The goal is to avoid relapse. In the first 5 years after the intervention, you need to regularly visit an oncologist - once a quarter. He evaluates the effectiveness of treatment and monitors the patient's condition. A woman can be prescribed drug therapy, which involves the use of a course of drugs.
Forecasts
A tumor does not always lead to death. If grade 3 breast cancer is detected in time, life expectancy may increase significantly. A doctor’s literacy and the absence of metastases also contribute to a positive outcome of the problem. Unfortunately, if the disease is neglected, then the patient will live only three years. As for the early stages, the five-year survival rate is 90%.
In order not to bring the disease to such a threatening state, it is enough to follow preventive measures. Firstly, even in her young years, the girl should monitor her health: do not have abortions, give birth on time, properly breastfeed, and eat right, maintain a balanced daily regimen and exercise. Secondly, after 30 years, you need to constantly examine your chest: to probe it, looking for suspicious seals. Thirdly, a systematic specialist consultation and mammography are required: after 40 years - once a year. To prevent the disease is always easier. Keep this in mind and be healthy.