Breast Conditions - Benign or Malignant Flashcards
What is a woman’s lifetime risk of developing breast cancer?
1 in 8
What is the lifetime risk predicted to be in 2024?
1 in 6
What is different about care in a Breast Care Unit?
- led by specialist breast surgeons
- triple assessment done (clinical, imaging and pathology)
- “One stop” clinic
What risk factors can be modified to decrease the risk of breast cancer?
- BMI/weight
- Exercise/diet
- Alcohol
- Smoking
- Exposure to radiation
- Having a family and age at which this occurs
How do patients normally present to the breast cancer?
- 50% patients are asymptomatic and picked up at screening
- other 50% are symptomatic
=> 1/2 of these have a lump
=> Other symptoms = discharge, nipple changes, dimpling, texture/colour change
What percentage of women attending the breast clinic have malignant breast cancer?
10%
How many views are used in mammography?
4 views
What is the main use of ultrasound in breast cancer clinics?
- To detect density of lump
i. e. solid or fluid
What does T4 staging of breast cancer indicate?
Extension to skin or chest wall OR BOTH
Describe the difference between N1-N3
N1 - mobile nodes
N2 - fixed nodes
N3 - ipsilateral internal mammary nodes
Describe the Halstedian and Fisherian paradigmns and how these relate to treatment today?
Halstedian
- ALL were treated as local disease
- Large mastectomies were thought to be curative
Fisherian
- Considered as a Systemic disease from onset
- Micrometastases thought to be present at onset
- Systemic tx is thought to make the only difference
Now we treat locally or systemically depending on extent of disease
What surgery can be used for local disease?
- lumpectomy
- mastectomy
- oncoplastic surgery (large excision whilst preserving the breast)
How can oncoplastic surgery be used to preserve the appearance of the breast?
- Bilateral surgery can be undertaken to make breasts appear symmetrical after removal of one lump
- New breast can be moulded for implant
- Tissue from elsewhere can be used to mould new breast
Explain how radiotherapy beams spare superficial layers of the breast?
- beams intensify upon reaching target
=> are less intense on more superficial layers
Why does chemotherapy cause various side effects?
- kills all cells in Mitotic phase (replicating)
- including gut, hair follicles etc
