What are the symptoms of breast cancer?

A change in how your breast feels or looks. For example, it may feel heavy, warm or uneven, or the skin may look pitted

Changes in your nipple. For example, the nipple might be pulled back into the breast (known as an inverted nipple)

Discharge from your nipple, such as blood

A rash that makes your nipple red and scaly. It may just be eczema, but it could be a sign of a rare type of cancer known as Paget's disease of the nipple.

Many women learn that they have breast cancer before they get any symptoms. They usually find out after they have a mammogram. (A mammogram is an X-ray of the breast.) Mammograms can reveal lumps that are too small to feel. All women aged 50 to 70 in the UK are invited for a mammogram every three years.[1] Women outside these ages aren't invited for routine mammograms, but can ask their GP for screening if they think they need it.

Breast cancer screening leads to unnecessary treatment

One in three women diagnosed with breast cancer after a screening test will have slow-growing forms of cancer that could safely go untreated, according to new research. Although breast cancer screening saves lives, it also means that some women go through the worry and side effects of unnecessary treatment.

What do we know already?

Screening programmes, like screening for breast cancer with regular mammograms, help to detect cancer early. For some women, this allows for life-saving treatment. However, screening comes with a downside that's often ignored. As well as helping to detect dangerous cancers, mammograms can also pick up harmless cancers that grow so slowly they never cause symptoms in a woman's lifetime, or don't grow at all. Doctors call this overdiagnosis.

It's impossible to tell the difference between dangerous and harmless cancers. Doctors have to treat them all. So, the price of screening is the possibility of having drastic treatments, such as surgery or radiotherapy, which you may not need.

That's not to say there's no point in screening for cancer. It's a question of weighing the benefits against the risks. If screening saved 100 lives for every person who had unnecessary treatment, it would make sense for people to take part in the programme. If the numbers were reversed, you might well conclude it wasn't worth the risk.

To help women weigh up the benefits and risks, researchers have tried to work out how many women screened for breast cancer end up being treated unnecessarily.

What does the new study say?

The researchers looked at five countries which have introduced breast cancer screening: the UK, Canada, Australia, Sweden, and Norway. They looked at trends for the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer before and after screening was introduced. They also looked at whether breast cancer rates in older women started to fall several years after screening was introduced, which is what you'd expect if cancers were being detected earlier in women.

The researchers calculated that for every two cases of dangerous breast cancer picked up by screening, one woman would be offered unnecessary treatment for a cancer that would never have harmed her.

How reliable are the findings?

Researchers are now fairly certain that breast cancer screening harms some women, owing to the unnecessary treatment they're offered. But how often does it happen?

The current study used statistical methods. We'd get a more accurate picture of the risks and benefits by comparing women who had screening with women who didn't. A study published three years ago did exactly that, and came up with slightly different results. Like the current study, it found that some women were treated unnecessarily for breast cancer, but there was a much smaller margin. Only one woman was treated unnecessarily for every 10 who benefitted from treatment.

If I attend breast cancer screening, what are the benefits?

Here's what we know based on all the research done so far: assuming 1,000 women started screening at the age of 50, and had a mammogram every year, one would have her life saved through early detection and treatment of dangerous cancer.

What are the downsides of breast cancer screening?

In the same group of 1,000 women, between two and 10 would be given treatment they don't need for a slow-growing cancer. This could mean painful surgery, along with side effects from radiotherapy or chemotherapy.

Between 10 and 15 women in the same group would have their breast cancer diagnosed earlier because of screening, but researchers say this makes no difference to their chances of surviving. The outcome for these women would have been the same even if they hadn't been treated until later on.

Between 100 and 500 women would have a false alarm, and go through the worry of more tests before getting the all-clear. About half of these women would undergo an unnecessary biopsy, where breast tissue is removed and checked for cancer.

Where does the study come from?

The researchers were based in Denmark. Their study was published in the BMJ (British Medical Journal), which is owned by the British Medical Association.

What should I do now?

In the UK, women between 50 and 70 are offered mammograms every three years. Women over 70 can continue being screened if they wish, but aren't invited routinely.

Whether you accept the invitation for screening or not is your decision. You may decide that the benefits outweigh the risks. However, if you're not convinced, there's no need to feel pressured into taking part. Iona Heath, a doctor writing about her own decision to refuse screening, says, "It is not wrong to say yes, but neither is it wrong to say no".

In the future, changes to the way mammograms are done could potentially reduce the numbers of women diagnosed and treated unnecessarily. For example, trials could be done to find out whether it's safe to ignore lumps below a certain size.

If you find a lump or notice any other changes in your breast, it's still extremely important to see a doctor as soon as you can.

From:

Jørgensen KJ, Gøtzsche PC. Overdiagnosis in publicly organised mammography screening programmes: systematic review of incidence trends. BMJ. 2009; 339: b2587.

© BMJ Publishing Group Limited ("BMJ Group") 2009

My Blog is Potential Spam?

I am so sad receiving an email from Blogger telling that my blog is spam.. I actually in learning progress to verify the issue of cancer survivor and try to share the information regards on cancer.

Anyway.. thanx for those who flag me up! (insane..)

Mesothelioma Survivor - I am Survive!

Dear Fellow Cancer Patient:

No one likes to read a lengthy letter, but maybe this will help you have a better chance of conquering your cancer and improving the quality of your life. I'm Dick Bloch. In March, 1978 I was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and given 3 months to live by an outstanding doctor. I am now healthy, cancer free, and devoting myself along with my wife, Annette, to helping the next person with cancer have the best chance of beating it. I'm not saying you can have the same success I did, but if you try, you have a chance.

The biggest and the hardest single thing that you will be required to do in the entire battle is to make up your mind to really fight it. You must, on your own, make the commitment that you will do everything in your power to fight your disease. No exceptions. Nothing halfway. Nothing for the sake of ease or convenience. Everything! Nothing short of it. When you have done this, you have accomplished the most difficult thing you will have to accomplish throughout your entire treatment. And I don't care how serious or how minor you are led to believe your cancer is.

If it is minor, great. Your commitment should not be difficult to abide by. If you are told you are going to die in 3 months or 3 years or whatever, then it makes that commitment that much more vital. There are a lot of "terminal" people alive, healthy and cancer free. There is no type of cancer from which some people have not been cured. There is no type of cancer for which there is no treatment.

To give up requires no commitment. You can stay in the comfort of your own lifestyle. Fighting means a complete change of lifestyle, absolutely leaving your comfort zone. There will be doctors doing things you might not like. There will be lots of work for you to do. There might even be some pain and suffering and certainly, lots of new and unexpected experiences. You must decide that the end is worth the means because you are the only one who can do it. No one else can do it for you. There is no half way. It's all the way. But when it is all said and done, no matter what the results, I've never met anyone who felt it was not the best way. Go for it with no second thoughts or regrets.

Remember, once you have made the commitment, everything else is relatively easy. There will be pleasant experiences. There will be unpleasant experiences. But I can promise you it is not as difficult as making the decision to make the commitment.

The next step you must take is acquiring knowledge. You, personally, must find out all you can about your disease. When you try, you will be amazed how simple and interesting it is, and I assume you have no medical background. First and foremost, talk to your personal doctor who diagnosed you. Be certain to tape record or write down all his answers. You are not a professional and you will be confused and forget. After a while, you will be amazed at what you understand. And remember, this is your life. It isn't your doctor's, it isn't anyone else's. If you want help, you had better help yourself first. Later you can count on others to help you.

Find out what kind of cancer you are supposed to have. This would include type, stage, grade, location, size, spread, receptors, differentiation, virulence, type of treatments it is receptive to, type of treatments your doctor believes it is not receptive to, and anything else your doctor can tell you. Telephone 1-800-4-CANCER. This is the U.S. Government's Cancer Information Service. Everything is free. Ask for a PDQ state-of-the-art cancer treatment printout for your type and stage of cancer. This will show you the recognized standard therapy for your specific disease. Next ask for a PDQ printout of clinical trials for your specific type and stage of cancer from the entire U.S. This will tell you briefly about every experimental therapy currently available for your disease. Get accustomed to calling 1-800-4-CANCER for most things you want to know and be very specific in what you request. The wonderful people there are trying to help you but they can't guess what you're thinking.

Call the Cancer Hot Line at 800-433-0464 to request a copy of Fighting Cancer and to ask for a list of institutions that provide a multidisciplinary second opinion.. All of this and much more is yours for the asking.

PDQ, written in understandable English, will give you a great deal of information on your disease. It will tell you how it is staged and what the overall statistics on your specific stage are. Remember, you are not a statistic. If you make it, your chances are 100%, if you don't, they are 0%. There is no in between.



MESOTHELIOMA SURVIVOR PAGE - THERE IS HOPE

No one wants to foster false hope. But hope is sometimes all you have to get through this grueling process. Remember this, there is no type of cancer from which someone has not survived (including mesothelioma survivors). Here is an inspiration letter and information about someone who shares your experience.

For other cancer survivor experiences click here: Cancer Survivor Page

R. A. BLOCH CANCER FOUNDATION, INC.
4400 Main Street - Kansas City, MO 64111 - 800-433-0464

Dear Fellow Cancer Patient:

No one likes to read a lengthy letter, but maybe this will help you have a better chance of conquering your cancer and improving the quality of your life. I'm Dick Bloch. In March, 1978 I was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and given 3 months to live by an outstanding doctor. I am now healthy, cancer free, and devoting myself along with my wife, Annette, to helping the next person with cancer have the best chance of beating it. I'm not saying you can have the same success I did, but if you try, you have a chance.

The biggest and the hardest single thing that you will be required to do in the entire battle is to make up your mind to really fight it. You must, on your own, make the commitment that you will do everything in your power to fight your disease. No exceptions. Nothing halfway. Nothing for the sake of ease or convenience. Everything! Nothing short of it. When you have done this, you have accomplished the most difficult thing you will have to accomplish throughout your entire treatment. And I don't care how serious or how minor you are led to believe your cancer is.

If it is minor, great. Your commitment should not be difficult to abide by. If you are told you are going to die in 3 months or 3 years or whatever, then it makes that commitment that much more vital. There are a lot of "terminal" people alive, healthy and cancer free. There is no type of cancer from which some people have not been cured. There is no type of cancer for which there is no treatment.

To give up requires no commitment. You can stay in the comfort of your own lifestyle. Fighting means a complete change of lifestyle, absolutely leaving your comfort zone. There will be doctors doing things you might not like. There will be lots of work for you to do. There might even be some pain and suffering and certainly, lots of new and unexpected experiences. You must decide that the end is worth the means because you are the only one who can do it. No one else can do it for you. There is no half way. It's all the way. But when it is all said and done, no matter what the results, I've never met anyone who felt it was not the best way. Go for it with no second thoughts or regrets.

Remember, once you have made the commitment, everything else is relatively easy. There will be pleasant experiences. There will be unpleasant experiences. But I can promise you it is not as difficult as making the decision to make the commitment.

The next step you must take is acquiring knowledge. You, personally, must find out all you can about your disease. When you try, you will be amazed how simple and interesting it is, and I assume you have no medical background. First and foremost, talk to your personal doctor who diagnosed you. Be certain to tape record or write down all his answers. You are not a professional and you will be confused and forget. After a while, you will be amazed at what you understand. And remember, this is your life. It isn't your doctor's, it isn't anyone else's. If you want help, you had better help yourself first. Later you can count on others to help you.

Find out what kind of cancer you are supposed to have. This would include type, stage, grade, location, size, spread, receptors, differentiation, virulence, type of treatments it is receptive to, type of treatments your doctor believes it is not receptive to, and anything else your doctor can tell you. Telephone 1-800-4-CANCER. This is the U.S. Government's Cancer Information Service. Everything is free. Ask for a PDQ state-of-the-art cancer treatment printout for your type and stage of cancer. This will show you the recognized standard therapy for your specific disease. Next ask for a PDQ printout of clinical trials for your specific type and stage of cancer from the entire U.S. This will tell you briefly about every experimental therapy currently available for your disease. Get accustomed to calling 1-800-4-CANCER for most things you want to know and be very specific in what you request. The wonderful people there are trying to help you but they can't guess what you're thinking.

Call the Cancer Hot Line at 800-433-0464 to request a copy of Fighting Cancer and to ask for a list of institutions that provide a multidisciplinary second opinion.. All of this and much more is yours for the asking.

PDQ, written in understandable English, will give you a great deal of information on your disease. It will tell you how it is staged and what the overall statistics on your specific stage are. Remember, you are not a statistic. If you make it, your chances are 100%, if you don't, they are 0%. There is no in between.

Trials are a wonderful thing. For purposes of discussion here, there are fundamentally two types of trials. First, there are trials of experimental treatments for generally difficult types of cancer. The procedure is to usually start off with the state-of-the-art therapy. If that should fail, you are switched to the next line of defense. If that fails, you then go to the third line, etc. After all standard therapies have been exhausted, go for experimental therapies. Clinical trials are undertaken when there is a strong possibility that the new approach will improve cancer treatment. Each clinical trial offers you a chance to live. It works on the drawing board. Maybe it can work with you. You have nothing to lose.

The second type of trial is a randomized or sometimes called a double blind trial. This is where there is a difference between two or three types of treatments or dosages or methods and it is desired to find out which is better. Absolutely no one can say for sure that one is better than the other. So they ask individuals to volunteer where they have no real preference and receive one of the methods, possibly without even their knowledge of which they are receiving. Then the results are monitored to find out which is better. For example half the participants might receive a dose each month and the other half might receive 1/4 the dose each week to see which group does better. Maybe half would receive their treatment in the morning and the other half in the afternoon. Either way, what you are doing is possibly helping those who are to come after you and in no way hurting yourself. Patients who participate in trials have the opportunity to receive the most advanced care available - either the new treatment or the best standard therapy. If the new treatment is successful, study patients are the first to benefit; and they have the satisfaction of helping themselves and others.

Assuming your doctor is not a board certified oncologist (a doctor who specializes only in the treatment of cancer), because very rarely does an oncologist diagnose cancer, request that he call one in. Talk to this doctor and get the same information. Again, be certain to write all answers. If you relate well to this qualified physician and he believes he can successfully treat you, have complete faith in him and do everything recommended.

If you do not relate well to this doctor or do not have faith in him or he does not believe you can be successfully treated, go for a true second opinion. That means leaving the comfort of your original doctor and hospital and going across the street or across the city to a different medical system. The best you can do for yourself would be a "multidisciplinary second opinion". This is by one of the institutions given to you by 1-800-433-0464. There you will be allowed to sit with your family and friends and hear your case discussed by independent specialists from each type of cancer medicine. They will tell you everything about your disease and answer any questions you or your family have openly and honestly. You will hear all your options.

If you are unable to get a multidisciplinary second opinion, find a second oncologist totally away from your present doctor or hospital. Get the same information from him. If again you get the impression that this physician can not successfully treat you, you're not through.

Using PDQ protocols, look up who is doing the most work in your type of cancer and call them on the telephone explaining your problem. Ask them straight out if they believe they can successfully treat you. Successfully treating you might not necessarily mean cure in your specific disease. It might be "control", it might be remission, it might be holding it where it is without getting worse. It is amazing how a qualified specialist can accomplish things a less skilled individual does not believe can be done. With the help of your telephone find the most skilled specialist who believes he can do the most for you and then go to him to be certain it is what you want. Then place all your faith and efforts with this individual to help him accomplish what he has set out to do for you.

If you follow our suggestions, initially you did the most difficult single thing in the whole battle - you made a commitment to do everything. Second, you got yourself the best possible medical attention. Now it is time to rationally plan the rest of the actions necessary to complete your commitment. You want to do everything and leave nothing out that could possibly help.

There is a saying that it takes 6 things to beat cancer. First is the best possible medical treatment. Second is the best possible medical treatment. Third, fourth and fifth are the best medical treatment. Sixth is a positive mental attitude. Without all 6, you don't have a chance. But look at it in that perspective and relative importance. A positive mental attitude is not burying your head in the sand and saying' "I'm going to get well." It is doing everything within your power in addition to medicine to help yourself recover.

That "everything" is to thoroughly read and digest the book, "Fighting Cancer" that you received by calling 800-433-0464. It is written in plain English to help you understand your disease and do everything in your power to help you fight it. The last chapter is a check list. Make absolutely certain that you have checked each item in the last chapter. This is for no one's benefit but your own. It is your life.

Fighting cancer is not a simple matter of thinking positively, wishing it away and saying, "Hey, doc, cure me." It is a matter of knowledge. It is a matter of educating yourself about every detail and mustering all your resources. Use every drop of energy in an organized fashion to constructively concentrate on getting rid of cancer. Most cancers can be successfully treated, but generally you have only one chance. If you miss that first chance, if you don't do everything in your power, often there is no second chance. This is why no cancer patient can afford the luxury of looking back and saying, "I wish I would have...." Never look back. Concentrate on this moment forward and do everything in your power. There is no downside risk. Now you may have a chance.

Good Luck & God Bless You,


Dick Bloch