Breast Cancer Detection and Diagnosis

Breast Cancer Detection and Diagnosis

Rabia Bilal (Usman Institute of Technology, Pakistan), Bilal Muhammad Khan (National University of Sciences and Technology, Pakistan) and Rupert Young (University of Sussex, UK)
Copyright: © 2018 |Pages: 27
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-3085-5.ch001

Abstract

Breast cancer in women persist to be one of the primary reason of death in the world. Since the exact causes are not completely known, the most important approach is to reduce this mortality by early detection and treatment. Cancer is very difficult to diagnose in its early stages and patients only experience the symptoms when cancer has fully developed. As yet there are no effective cancer detection techniques that can detect and cure cancer at an early stage. Early cancer detection challenges very much rely on diagnostic imaging techniques at the screening stage. Newer diagnostic techniques in imaging has potential to detect timely and classify women at high possibility of the ailment. There are a several investigations that can assist in the identification of cancer, as well as blood tests, physical checkups and a several of imaging techniques including of ultrasound, MRI, mammograms and chest x-rays. This chapter focuses on the current detection techniques, discusses the shortcomings, and identifies the need for new, safer and cheaper detection techniques.
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Different Screening Investigation Methods

Screening tests can be classified as

  • 1.

    Physical Screening and History: Checking body for lumps, swelling or anything appearing unusual. Patient’s past and current sicknesses history should also be taken in order to decide the patient management care plan.

  • 2.

    Laboratory Tests: Medical procedures that examine specimen of blood, urine, gene mutations or tissues in the body to identify cancer.

  • 3.

    Imaging Procedures: Techniques defining the regions inside the body by creating pictures.

Some cancers not ever show symptoms or turn into life-threatening, but if established by a screening investigation, the cancer may be treated. There is no approach to identify if treating the cancer would help the individual live longer than if no treatment were given. There is an increased possibility of an individual committing suicide in the first year after the cancer is being diagnosed.

Also, cancer treatments have effects and can lead to depression. For certain cancers, discovering and cancer treatment at the initial level does not increase the chance of a cure or help an individual survive long. False positive diagnosis, test result indicating cancer when there is no cancer can cause anxiety and depression. False positives are followed by further tests and procedures.

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Early Detection: Breast Self-Examination (Bse)

Review

The intention of breast self-examination is to know the configuration of breast, identify how breasts generally sense and capable to detect modifications in the breast. In many cases the main way in which breast cancer is first detected is self-examination by the patient. Physical changes in or on the breast may be detected by the woman herself. The routine comprises of the woman herself observing at and sense each breast for potential swellings, tumor or lump under their armpit. It is recommended to have breast self-examination in aid with mammogram and clinical breast examination, besides not as a replacement for one or the other method.

Breast self-examination on its own can reduce the mortality rate is at present a causing disagreement (Ancelle-Park & Nicolan, 1999; IARC handbooks of cancer prevention, 2002). There has been a study concluding that there is not enough support that self-examination of the breast might decrease fatality from breast cancer (Ancelle-Park & Nicolan, 1999). Although this is the effortless way of detecting; it also the nominal accurate. Self-examination of the breast comprises of physical and visual examination of the breasts.

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