Breast cancer in men

Like women, men have breast tissue and may develop breast cancer. In Canada, less than 1% of all cases of breast cancer affecting men. The male breast cancer is most often diagnosed in men over 60 years, but the disease can occur at any age.

Breast cancer will develop equally in men and women, our information on risk factors, diagnosis, staging and treatment is the same for both sexes.

Breast Health starts with good knowledge of his own body to be more able to notice any changes that may cause a problem. The most common type of male breast cancer occurs in the breast ducts (ductal carcinoma); 

Symptoms usually include:

    * Small painless lump in the breast;
    * Slight nipple discharge.

Do not forget that most of the problems affecting the breasts are not cancerous; consulting a physician will determine the nature of the problem and the need for treatment.

If you are diagnosed with breast cancer and receive treatment, this may change the perception you have of your body and affect your sexuality. Whether you have a partner or not, it is not necessarily easy to talk about these issues and find information to help you live better situation. Feel free to share your thoughts with members of your team. They can direct you to resources where you can find information and support you need.

Inflammatory breast cancer

The inflammatory breast cancer is a rare form of cancer that can develop and spread quickly, even in the early stages of the disease. This type of cancer can occur when breast cancer cells block the lymph vessels to help remove fluids, bacteria and other waste from the breast tissue. It may then result in inflammation of the breasts. Unlike most breast cancers, which cause the appearance of one or several different solid tumors, the inflammatory breast cancer tends to grow in layers or nests.
 

Symptoms

Symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer vary from person to person and can occur suddenly. Consult your doctor if you notice one or more of the following symptoms:

    * Changing the size or shape of the breast, the breast can take in a short amount of time (for some women, the equivalent of a cup size bra in a few more weeks);

    * Boobs hot or warm to the touch;
 

    * Change in color or normal breast texture of the skin of the breast can become red, pink or bruised for no apparent reason (in whole or in patches);
 

    * Itching breasts as ointments or creams can not relieve;
 

    * Sudden onset of a lump in the breast, but as inflammatory breast cancer tends to grow in layers instead of forming a solid tumor, a person with this type of cancer may not necessarily see the presence of a breast lump;

    * Swollen lymph nodes under the arm or above the clavicle;
 

    * Nipple discharge.

Symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer can be similar to a breast infection (mastitis), which can be treated successfully with antibiotics. If antibiotic treatment fails to eliminate the symptoms, it is important to consult the doctor again. Other tests may be needed to confirm or exclude a diagnosis of inflammatory breast cancer.
 

Diagnosis

The inflammatory breast cancer is rarely detected through mammography or ultrasound, unless a solid tumor has developed. The biopsy is the surest way to detect an inflammatory breast cancer.
 

Treatment

Treatment is often undertaken on the spot because inflammatory breast cancer can spread quickly. We usually use a combination of treatments: chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy and hormone therapy. As cancer cells proliferate inflammatory breast in all breast tissue rather than concentrating in a single tumor, often administered chemotherapy prior to surgery or radiotherapy.

Breast Cancer: acupuncture against hot flashes

The hot flashes caused by some treatments for breast cancer could be permanently reduced by acupuncture.

Acupuncture against hot flashes

According to the results of a U.S. clinical trial, acupuncture would help curb hot flashes and night sweats often caused by hormonal therapy for breast cancer. The benefits of this approach are also important and more durable than those made by drugs classically used to counteract these unpleasant side effects. Hot flashes caused by some cancer treatments can be alleviated by the administration of venlafaxine. However, this molecule has its own specific side effects: it causes a dry mouth, loss of appetite, nausea and constipation.

Acupuncture can relieve hot flashes associated with menopause, a team of American doctors had imagined it could also benefit patients in antitumor hormone. The hypothesis was tested in a small clinical trial. Fifty patients were divided randomly into two groups: the first group of women received the drug typically used to reduce hot flashes for twelve weeks. Those of the second group were treated by acupuncture, with two sessions per week for four weeks, then a weekly meeting the remaining eight weeks. Patients were then followed for one year.

Initially, it appeared that both treatment modalities were equally effective, leading one to the other as a reduction of 50% of episodes of hot flashes and mood changes associated. However, while the effect of drug treatment fades after only two weeks, one of acupuncture lasts up to three months. In addition, acupuncture is well tolerated by patients and not accompanied by side effects.

Before it can be definitively established that the benefit of acupuncture is superior to that of the administration of venlafaxine to relieve patients under hormone tumor, these results should be replicated on a larger group of patients.

You have a lump in the breast? do not panic!

Have a lump in the breast is mostly benign. But better to talk to the doctor, so as not to miss breast cancer. The simple characteristics of this lump in the breast can usually identify the origin.

A lump in the breast: is it a fibroadenoma. Has a mixture of glandular tissue and fibrous tissue, the fibroadenoma is common among young women from puberty until their thirties. It manifests as a ball can go from 1 to 5 cm. This ball is smooth, regular and elastic. It is mobile and slides under the finger. It can be single or multiple and become painful.

The lump in the breast tends to grow with hormonal changes, during menstruation, with the pill or pregnancy. The diagnosis of fibroadenoma is confirmed by ultrasound or mammography. In young women, monitoring is recommended. If aesthetic discomfort or pain, we can proceed with ablation. Among older women (beyond 35 years), removal is more common as a fibroadenoma can hide a small malignant tumor.

A lump in the breast: is it a cyst.

Single or multiple (in polycystic), the cyst is due to an expansion of a milk duct (leading milk). It is common among women age 40 until menopause (in the absence of hormone replacement therapy).

The size of the cyst is variable, ranging from a few millimeters to several centimeters, and varies depending on the hormonal cycle. This small lump in the breast is very limited, it is mobile to palpation (it rolls under the finger). Sometimes painful, it also has the characteristic of appearing suddenly.

The presence of a cyst does not require intervention in the vast majority of cases. If discomfort or pain, hormone therapy may be prescribed or the cyst emptied of its contents by aspiration cytology. In all cases, monitoring is needed.

A lump in the breast: is it a lipoma?

The lipoma is a fatty tissue mass. This mass is also of regular and smooth contour. Mobile, it deforms easily under the fingers. The lipoma does not require intervention.

A lump in the breast: Is it cancer?

If it is cancer, the characteristics are very different: the ball is hard, its contours are irregular and it is not mobile because the ball adheres to fabrics. Sometimes the ball changes the shape of the breast. It is necessary to consult their doctor or gynecologist.

In conclusion, a lump in the breast is mostly benign and does not require that surveillance. However, it may be breast cancer. Therefore, any lump in the breast requires a consultation to identify clearly the origin.

Lung cancer when radon invites himself home

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas accounts for 9% of annual deaths from lung cancer in Europe. This carcinogen kills miners for centuries. But it is also present in our homes, where, even at low doses, it is particularly dangerous.

Radon is a carcinogen

For the French population exposure to radon is a major source of exposure to ionizing radiation. Radon is a radioactive gas that is naturally concentrated in poorly ventilated habitats. And we spend 90% of our lives in buildings, 70% at home. But radon is a lung carcinogen. He represents the 2nd cause of lung cancer. Although it lags far behind smoking, radon is responsible for approximately 9% of deaths from lung cancer in Europe. In France, the annual number of deaths from lung cancer is attributable to residential exposure to radon vary from 1234 to 2913, ie 5 to 12% of the 25,134 deaths from lung cancer in France.

Low doses of radon enough ...

According to one analysis identified in an article published in the Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin (BEH), the risk of lung cancer increases by 8.4% for every increase of 100 Bq/m3 the measured concentration of radon, which is adjusted an increase of 16%. But in the homes of people with cancer, the average concentration of radon is 104 Bq/m3 cons 97 Bq/m3 in the control group. Thus, most deaths are attributable to exposures well below 200 Bq/m3: 47% occur among 76% of French who are exposed to concentrations at 0 and 99 Bq/m3, 27% among those exposed to 9% over 200 Bq/m3. If we divided the subjects into groups according to concentrations of radon to which they are exposed, we find a linear relationship between cancer risk and cumulative dose. In other words, there is no threshold of dangerousness. The risk is almost the same for concentrations between 100 and 200 Bq/m3 and for concentrations below 100 Bq/m3.

In France, the average exposure is 90 Bq/m3, with lower concentrations in urban areas than in rural areas. Some departments were classified with high potential for radon. This is particularly the case of Brittany and Corsica where radon is responsible for 20% of annual deaths from lung cancer.

Please note that smoking is a powerful co-risk factor, especially since it is ubiquitous.

Protection against radon

The impact of radon exposure on the health of the population requires the implementation of policy actions. The Nuclear Safety Authority (NSA) has developed an action plan for 2005-2008 interdepartmental coordinating the actions of various national bodies involved in this field. It is organized around 3 themes:

- Construct a new policy for risk management of radon in existing houses and new construction;
- Supporting and monitoring the implementation of regulations for managing the risk associated with radon in public places;
- Improve and disseminate knowledge about exposures and risks associated with radon.

Note that exposures can be significantly reduced in homes by means often simple:

* Increase the level of aeration.
* Breakdown under floors.
* Installation of barrier antiradon.
* Sealing of soils.
* Boucher cracks.
* Avoid porous materials.
* For new homes: building pressure with double ventilation system sumps and connected to an extractor to pump the radon coming from the basement to the outside.

Note that there are devices for measuring the concentration of radon in his apartment. They are "dosimeters" that can be purchased from one company that sells (Algade, Dosirad, Saphymo). You can also use a professional.

Statins: cholesterol cons and lung cancer!

Smokers who have too much cholesterol they have better luck? In any case they would more than other smokers. Why? Because they take a statin, an anti-cholesterol, and that this molecule also protects against lung cancer!

Statins and cancer

Smokers are the luckiest paradoxically those who suffer from high cholesterol because treatment confers protection against lung cancer.
The description of this new effect of statins is particularly interesting because except smoking cessation, we do not currently have any weapons preventive from this terrible cancer.

Lung cancer

Each year there are 28,000 new cases of lung cancer and nearly 150,000 deaths (or 26 times more than road fatalities). In 95% cases it is caused by tobacco. Smokers and former smokers are the most concerned, but also non-smokers from passive smoking victims.

A 55% reduction in risk of lung cancer in statin

This study examined a population of approximately 480,000 persons followed in a clinic for veterans between 1998 and 2004. Lung cancer was reported in 7280 of these subjects (1.5%) and 164,000 were receiving treatment with statins (34%). Among subjects in whom lung cancer was reported, 27% were taking a statin, against 34% of those without cancer. Regardless of all the risks that may affect the risk of lung cancer (smoking, age, sex, weight, diabetes, alcohol consumption ...), we see that taking a statin for more than 6 months is associated with a 55% reduction in risk of lung cancer. This effect of statins appears from treatment over 6 months. Then, it seems that more processing time is longer, the protective effect tends to increase. In contrast, the type of statin and dosage does not seem to intervene in this study.

These data are important and are similar to those obtained for other statins on cancer. Studies should continue on the protection afforded by statins against tumors. It is at least a good reason for motivation for those who take a statin daily.

Lung cancer: It also affects non-smokers

Lung cancer also affects people who have never smoked. However, the lung tumors of these patients are generally not the same as those of smokers.

Lung cancer is different in smokers and nonsmokers

If smoking is the most important risk factors for lung cancer, the disease also affects non smokers. It is estimated that 15% of patients with lung cancer have never smoked. However, as an increasing number of data suggests, lung cancer non-smokers are often different from those diagnosed in smokers: the abnormalities observed in cancer cells of these two categories of patients are not the same.

What are the risk factors of lung cancer among non-smokers?

Side risk factor, it is well established that passive smoking and exposure to radon pollution play an important role in the occurrence of lung cancer in nonsmokers. Exposure to asbestos, wood smoke and fumes of cooking oil could also pose a risk. However, all of these factors can explain only half of cases of lung cancers diagnosed among non-smokers.

The treatment of lung cancer is different there too?

Later treatment, it appears already that certain drugs are more targeted therapy effective in non-smokers. This is particularly the case of "inhibitors of EGFR (Epidermic Growth Factor Receptor). But a better understanding of the molecular characteristics of tumors developing in people who never smoked could lead to an improvement in their care. It would not only choose treatments best suited among those existing, but also to develop new therapeutic molecules specifically targeting tumors from smokers.