3 degree of breast cancer: life expectancy. Breast Cancer Therapy

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 30 more years ago for a year doctors registered 6 thousand cases of disease at the last stages, today this figure has increased two and a half times. In this article, we will try to describe in detail what threatens the third degree of breast cancer. The life expectancy of a woman, her treatment, the symptoms she feels, what is the prevention of a dangerous illness - read all about this further.

What is the risk of cancer of the third degree?

First, we will understand what kind of ailment it is. Doctors say that breast cancer in women in 3 stages 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 armpits there are metastases: they are fused and dense, considerably enlarged in size. The tumor in the first two stages often goes unnoticed, so the woman turns to the doctor when the disease is already actively progressing.

Cancer of the third degree is a systemic disease. This means that it is not enough just to cut out malignant education for its treatment. Most likely, the tumor has already allowed microscopic metastases to the internal organs. Accordingly, this course of events threatens to relapse, development of cancers in other locations, amputation of the breast, in particularly neglected cases, the disease can result in a fatal outcome. If after surgery cancer is not treated with therapy, relapse occurs in 100% of cases.

Risk factors

As we see, 3 degrees of breast cancer can lead to irreversible consequences. The life span of a patient depends on her awareness: the more she knows about the ailment, the sooner 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, this is the way of life of a woman. The elderly children who are childless or those who first became pregnant after 30 years old, ladies who have frequent contacts with the source of radiation, are prone to eating fatty foods. The tumor threatens patients older than 40 years, genetically predisposed to the disease, as well as those who had early menstruation (up to 12 years) and later came to menopause.

Secondly, the level of health affects the formation of a tumor. Cancer is susceptible to patients with high estrogen levels in the blood, metabolic disorders, obesity, endocrinological problems, thyroid disorders. Under the supervision of a doctor, there should be women who have had cancer of the genitals and breasts, as well as those taking oral contraception, who have changes in the mammary gland.

Other reasons

Disease of breast cancer does not just happen. It can be preceded by a variety of pathological processes in tissues. For example, the formation of foci of fibrocystic mastopathy due to repeated dyshormonal hyperplasias. Their causes are the following: all the same endocrine disorders that develop after abortions, breast enlargement operations, diseases of appendages, inadequate feeding of a newborn baby.

Unfortunately, the risk of "earning" the disease is directly proportional to the size of the breast. The bigger the bust, the more closely you need to monitor its condition. The development of cancer is also promoted by anatomical abnormalities, disorders that were formed even when the woman was an embryo and was in the womb of the mother. It is about the presence of additional lobules of glandular tissue, a congenital or genetic tendency to benign tumors - fibroadenomas. All these formations should be surgically removed, as they are difficult to distinguish from the beginning cancer.

Symptoms

It's sad, but usually in the late stages of the ladies notice breast cancer. Symptoms and signs are manifested in different ways. The main thing is a seal, which can be felt in the chest during a palpation. It is not necessarily a malignant formation, but it will not be superfluous to visit a polyclinic. The localization of tumors can be different: both in the left and in the right breast. Only in 2.5% of cases there are bilateral cancers: the node in the second mammary gland can be either an independent formation or a metastasis. In half of the patients, the cancer "loves" being placed from the outside near the armpit.

Breast cancer, the symptoms and symptoms of which are not manifested in mild forms of the disease, at the third stage the woman is troubled by dense formations. They do not hurt, but create discomfort: sprouting into the chest wall, becoming 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 unaided eye: the epidermis cover is deformed, drawing in the nipple. From it can go bloody or whitish discharge. When lymph nodes are affected, they increase and create inconveniences in the armpit area.

Atypical cancers

Usually the 3 degree of breast cancer, the life span during which depends on the competent actions of the woman and the doctor, has several varieties. In addition to the standard clinical picture described above, the tumor can take unusual atypical forms:

1. Mastitis like cancer. It is characterized by a rapid flow, breast tenderness, its increase. The skin is red, hot to the touch, tight and tense. The ailment is very similar to mastitis, so tragic errors in diagnosis are often found.
2. Rozhistopodobnaya form. There is reddening of the skin of the bust, which spreads far beyond its borders, has jagged, uneven edges. A woman can have a sharp rise in temperature. The tumor is easily confused with the usual erysipelas.
3. Tissue cancer. Very dangerous form. Occurs because of infiltration along the skin's slits and lymph nodes, resulting in tuberous dense formations. It manifests in the form of a shell, which covers most of the chest.
4. Paget's cancer. Grabs the nipple: it peels off, releases fluid. Often it is taken for eczema. If left untreated, the cancer penetrates into the depths of the tissues, forming a malignant node there.

All these forms are not like ordinary cancer. But for an experienced specialist to diagnose this or that type of disease will not be difficult.

What happens in the body?

Breast cancer in women by histological structure refers to adenocarcinomas or the so-called solid form of the disease with a variety of transitional forms. Tumors are lobular and protocol, depending on the contours and distribution. It is worth knowing that, in addition to the common malignant formations in the breast, non-epithelial cancers can arise, for example, sarcoma. 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 particular state of estrogen receptors (ERTS). It can dramatically change the course of the disease, often it is on it that the therapy strategy chosen by the doctor depends. Those tumors that have ERTS are more characteristic of menopause. The same is true for a larger number of primary cancers - about 70%. ERTS-negative malignancies are more common in girls before the onset of menopause.

Metastases

These are very dangerous to health and life education, which are often found in the late stages of the disease, when a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. Metastases are the same tumor cells that, with the help of a lymph flow (and it is very developed in the breast tissues) are carried to the lymph nodes. The initial malignant lesions primarily affect the axillary, subscapular and subclavian areas of the body. Then the metastases spread to the neck area, the second chest and the area around it. Sometimes metastases appear earlier than the cancer itself was detected. In this case, you need to immediately carry out all the examinations to exclude the cancer of the breast.

Hematogenous way - through the circulatory system - metastases get to other organs where they begin to parasitize. Usually they are located in the brain, liver, lungs, pleura, bone tissues. If the formations are hooked on the skeleton, then most likely they will "settle" in the pelvis, on the skull, the spine, the ribs, the femoral and humer bones. In this case, the woman will feel aching pains, which can easily be confused with disorders of the musculoskeletal system. In the future they will become painful, acute and unbearable if you do not treat their original cause - cancer.

Diagnostics

Breast cancer therapy can be quite successful if the disease has only begun to develop. In other cases, more aggressive methods of treatment are used. But before deciding on possible ways, the doctor must make a 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 education. Diagnostic methods include: ultrasound, MRI (magnetic resonance therapy) and mammography - chest x-ray.

Also, a woman will be offered to make a biopsy - a histological analysis of the affected area of the tissue. The procedure is painful, therefore it is carried out using local anesthesia on an outpatient basis. In addition, the patient is sent to the ultrasound of the abdominal organs, radioisotope study of the spine, lung X-rays . In addition, you will need to pass all the general tests and pass a finger examination of the lymph nodes.

Treatment

It depends on the size and type of tumor, the presence of metastases. If a woman has detected breast cancer too late, the operation will be unavoidable. This applies to the third and fourth stages of the disease. To begin with, the tumor will try to "kill" with the help of chemotherapy or hormone therapy. Completely get rid of malignant education will not succeed, but you can make it operable and achieve reduction in size. As for the surgical intervention itself, physicians are trying to completely cut out the tumor and diseased lymph nodes. The amount of work can vary: depending on the size of the education. Sometimes you have to cut a whole breast.

After surgery, breast cancer is prescribed radiotherapy. The goal is to avoid relapse. In the first 5 years after the intervention, one must regularly visit an oncologist - once a quarter. He assesses the effectiveness of treatment and controls the patient's condition. A woman may be prescribed drug therapy, which involves the use of a course of medications.

Forecasts

A tumor does not always lead to death. If the 3 rd degree of breast cancer is detected in time, the life expectancy can significantly increase. The literacy of the doctor and the lack of metastases also contribute to the positive outcome of the problem. Unfortunately, if the ailment is neglected, 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, in young years, the girl should monitor her health: not to make abortions, give birth to children on time, properly breastfeed them, and also eat right, observe a balanced regime of the day and play sports. Secondly, after 30 years, it is necessary to constantly examine your breasts: feel it, looking for suspicious seals. Thirdly, a systematic consultation of a specialist and the passage of a mammogram is necessary: after 40 years - once a year. Warn disease is always easier. Remember this and be healthy.