You need to know about breast cancer duration of treatment and prevention
That being said, how does SAVI work? It starts after a lumpectomy. A doctor inserts the device into the breast via the lumpectomy’s surgical incision. It stays there throughout the treatment process. Catheters within the device expand to fill the walls of the tumor cavity. Twice per day, over the course of five days, a doctor plants individual doses of radiation into the tumor cavity. This is made possible through the catheters, which deposit the “seeds” of radiation within the breast.
Can I beat breast cancer?
Yes you can. Almost eight out of ten women who are diagnosed with the disease in the UK survive more than five years. However, the interesting thing is that in other European countries this figure can be ten women in every hundred higher! So there clearly are factors that can improve the odds for your personal survival. This article will help point you in their direction.
Who gets breast cancer?
It used to be claimed by the major charities and health bodies that despite the high profile cases of Pop Stars contracting the disease in their twenties and thirties, the facts indicated that 80 per cent of all breast cancers came in the over 65 age group. As a result and with an ageing population, numbers developing the disease would get worse.
It is true that you are more at risk of breast cancer the older you get. Sadly, with ageing comes increased deficiency in cellular replication systems, more chances of genetic mistakes, reduced protective hormone levels and a build up of toxins.
However, there has been a gradual lowering of the age of breast cancer diagnosis with approximately 40 per cent of diagnoses now occurring in women below the age of 65, and just 60 per cent above that age. Breast cancer as a middle age phenomenon has increased by 40 per cent or more in the last two decades. It is quite clear that there is more to this cancer than mere ageing.
The breasts are made up of ducts connecting the nipples to glandular tissue containing the lobes. Some of the breast tissue extends into the armpit, the home of some of your lymph nodes. The ducts and the lobes are surrounded by fat and herein lies some possible clues to the causes of breast cancer. Fat is a wonderful solvent and will dissolve and hold all those chemicals, toxins and hormones (your own and ingested ones) that you really should be excreting. Being overweight will worsen the problem as that will increase the percentage of fat in the breast. The good news is that Northwestern University in America showed that women who shed the pounds after developing breast cancer improved their odds of survival over those who did not.
Can breast cancer run in families?
Another concern you often hear is that Breast Cancer runs in families. Some people do have a genetic weakness – you may have heard of BRCA1 and BRCA2. These were originally thought to be specifically BReast CAncer causing genes but are now known to be a gene that weakens the immune systems ability to spot a cancer cell, and a gene that prevent the cells ability to repair its own DNA; and these can be found in both men and women and lie behind many cancers. Other genes linked to a higher incidence of breast cancer are still being discovered for example, PALB-2 but, again, these seem more to do with the repair and immune systems than the breast tissue itself. Importantly, only approximately 7 per cent of women carry impaired genes although it is thought that these account for at least 25 per cent of breast cancers diagnosed.
Increasing knowledge, increasing survival
When my daughter developed her brain tumour and was given just 6 months to live we found out so many things that could help but it took at least 6 months hard work and a pair of science degrees to sort the wheat from the chaff. The aim of the CANCERactive website is to short circuit the information gathering process for you and to empower you to take some control over your life and your treatment programme. We want you to be able to make better-informed personal choices. There is so much information on this site – you might like to short circuit even this and read our compilation book, Everything you need to know to help you beat cancer. The book has been a best seller in the UK for eight years and you cannot even buy it in a shop only direct from the Natural Selection shop – click on the tab at the top centre right of this page!! The new 4th Edition is just out.
Now, let´s first try to understand what is going on, and what factors might be maintaining this cancer, helping it to progress in your body.
The possible contributory factors to breast cancer
Various epidemiology studies have shown that smoking increases risk, as does increasing levels of regular alcohol consumption. An extra glass of wine a day will increase risk by about 7 per cent.
Dietary factors are clearly important. Various global studies show that women with breast cancer have much lowered levels of vitamin C, vitamin B-12 and long-chain omega-3. Research shows that tocotrienol vitamin E, fish oils and garlic appear to be particularly protective. Unfortunately, high street vitamin E is a usually a limited and synthetic copy of the real thing being usually the alpha-tocopherol form. Studies have shown that women with a history of breast cancer have lowered levels of the mammalian lignans, enterodiol and enterolactone, which are made from plant lignans in the intestine. One very good source is flax seed. Phytoestrogen levels (from green plants and pulses) are also low.
Women with lowered levels of vitamin D have a much higher risk of breast cancer. Professor Hollick of Harvard has stated that 25 per cent fewer women would die of breast cancer if they took adequate daily levels of vitamin D, the vitamin developed under your skin by the action of sunlight. Unfortunately, women in Britain do not see too much of the sun in winter. D3 is a supplement often used and 5000IU´s a day the level suggested. Vitamin K seems to aid the action of vitamin D. It is found in a daily helping of ´greens´. But……
If you’re struggling to wrap your mind around the process, like I was, this soundless video offers a really great visualization.
There are several different perks of this treatment option. One is its duration: five days to a few weeks, making it more convenient and less life-altering than WBI. In addition to that, peer-reviewed studies say that it makes more women eligible for APBI and spares healthy tissues (because it only involves the area around the tumor).
Remember that this is a new form of treatment, however. APBI in general is a new form of treatment. So scholarship on its safety and efficacy compared to WBI is slightly mixed, and many researchers say that more information is needed. However, the overarching consensus is that APBI and WBI yield very similar results (with some exceptions). That being said, many clinics have deemed APBI and SAVI as safe to use and have adopted them.
Of course, not everyone is eligible for this form of treatment. Eligibility factors include age, cancer stage, tumor size, and tumor location in relation to the lymph nodes. So be sure to ask your doctor if it’s a good option for you.
Unfortunately, some women don’t receive information about all of their breast cancer treatment options, and they go through unnecessary surgeries as a result. You can help enact laws that will change this.
