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Melanie Juarez

March 28, 2023

English 1302-208

Dr. Sharity Nelson

Breast Cancer Awareness

Introduction

Many people only know some facts about breast cancer, but don't acknowledge what

breast cancer really is. The facts that are mostly known about breast cancer are because many see

them on tv, a show, a poster, etc…, which is just the surface of what breast cancer is. This is a big

problem due to cancer being the killing lead disease in america. As cancer mortality rates

increase and people with cancer increase, many still are unaware of what cancer truly is. Breast

cancer goes more into depth with its side effects, symptoms, treatment, etc… that many don't

know. Scholars provided information over breast cancer and how it is under acknowledged.

Impact of Breast Cancer

Furthermore, a common misunderstanding is that breast cancer only affects women,

which it does not, it can also affect men. Commonly in the US the spotlight of breast cancer is

given to women. This makes Americans only focus on women, but leave men out due to it not

being acknowledged. Although women make up the majority of breast cancer patients, the male

percentage should not be left out as it is a very delicate cancer topic. According to Appiah, et al.,

“Due to its rarity, most MBC patients in the past have not been included in therapeutic studies,

…,” (284). Male breast cancer patients aren't being recognized and supported as they should be,

which is why it is very common for Americans to not know this part of breast cancer. According

to Shin, et al., “Though a rare disease, … significantly increased …, with incidence reaching as
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high as 1.24 per 100,000 man-years in 2000,” (1). Even though it is not as common as women's

breast cancer, male breast cancer has been increasing. Even with this increase many Americans

are still unaware males can develop breast cancer.

Knowledge of Breast Cancer

Basic knowledge everyone knows or should know is that genetics play a big role in

cancer development. Genetics play a major role in everything in the human body, whether it be

from how one is gonna look to what illnesses one will have. According to Behravan, et al.,

“Automatic cancer risk prediction …, such as demographic and epidemiological information,

genomes, transcriptomes, miRNAomes, metabolomes and clinical data,” (1). All of the

information they need is part of a person's DNA and health history, which is needed in order to

understand the health stand of a patient.

According to Gastouniot, et al., “... significant differences in age at screening, family history of

breast cancer, number of prior biopsies, and BI-RADS …,” and the author provided a table

showing the results (4).

What is being done to provide are knowledge and resources on Breast Cancer

As breast cancer rates keep increasing, more information and resources are being given out to the

public and patients. According to Maxwell, et al., “The Affordable Care Act was signed into law

in 2010 and eliminated patient cost sharing …, such as mammography,” and this helped out

many people get tested and treat breast cancer at an early stage (949). These medical resources

provided helped many women to get tested annually. According to Carlson, “... surgical

management of breast cancer in the United States began with the publication of National

Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project …,” (11).

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According to La Frinere-Sandova, et al., “... were Pap test and mammogram utilization meeting

American Cancer Society (ACS) or U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) guidelines,”

(562).

Conclusion

In conclusion, breast cancer should be made more aware of and more acknowledged. According

to Bilan, et al., “Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women worldwide and is

second … biggest cancer-related killer …,” which is why more awareness should be made (1).

Breast cancer has been increasing, which leads to an increase of mortality rates. According to

Mirbagheri, et al., “Breast cancer as the fifth leading cause of death (627,000 deaths,6.6%) … ,”

and with this research it can be seen an increase of mortality rates (1297). This high mortality

rate can be due to little to none knowledge of breast cancer symptoms.

Work cited

Appiah, Duke, et al. “A Prospective Population-Based Study of Cardiovascular Disease

Mortality following Treatment for Breast Cancer among Men in the United States,

2000–2019.” Current Oncology, vol. 30, 2023, pp. 284-297. Academic Search

Complete, http://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol30010023

Behravan, Hamid, et al. “Predicting breast cancer risk using interacting genetic and

demographic factors and machine learning.” Scientific Reports, vol. 10, no.
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11044, 2020, pp. 1-14. Academic Search Complete,

http://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-66907-9.

Bilan, Nadeem, et al. “Breast Cancer in the United States: A Cross-Sectional Overview.”

Journal of Cancer Epidemiology, vol. 2020, 2020, pp. 1-7. Academic Search

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Carlson, Grant W. MD. “The changing surgical treatment of breast cancer in the United

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Gastouniot, Aimilia, et al. “External Validation of a Mammography-Derived AI-Based

Risk Model in a U.S. Breast Cancer Screening Cohort of White and Black

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http://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14194803

La Frinere-Sandova, Quynh Nhu (Natasha) B., et al. “Perceived neighborhood social

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Academic Search Complete, 10.3934/publichealth.2022039

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10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_931_19.
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Nelson, Heidi D., et al. “Screening for Breast Cancer: An Update for the U.S. Preventive

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Shin,Jacob Y., et al. “The Impact of Race in Male Breast Cancer Treatment and Outcome

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