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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. Breast cancer is an illness that

affects the reproductive system of a human. Breast cancer is malicious tissue build up, which

then affects a person's breast. 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. Every person should be aware of what breast cancer is, what its

symptoms are, and what is being done to lower the development of 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. Understanding the patient's health stand is one of the
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major priorities, so this requires the DNA and health history of a person. Genetics are what

makes up a person and with them health issues can be acknowledged. Genetic tests are run in

order to see if a person can be at risk of breast cancer development. Due to everyone's genetics

being different, it would be common for everyone to have different results. According to

Gastouniot, et al., different people of age were tested in family history, medical background, etc

in order to see what the difference between these women were, and the author provided a table

with the patients characteristics showing the results (4). According to Gastouniot, et al., no major

difference was found between all the women being tested (4). The patient's medical history and

family history also plays a major role in the risk a patient runs. As many have relatives who have

developed breast cancer and in some cases it is inherited, this causes a probability of highly at

risk cancer. A basic understanding of breast cancer is that this cancer takes a poll on the patients

and the family all together. In many cases various family members have gone through breast

cancer or are going through it together.

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. Breast

cancer can affect men and should be more publicized in order to get more people informed.
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According to Shin, et al., “Though a rare disease, … significantly increased …, with incidence

reaching as 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. Male breast cancer isn't advocated

as much as women's breast cancer. October is the month when breast cancer is acknowledged,

but even then a picture of a woman with a child is always used. On October posters, fliers, etc…

are put everywhere and they contain the same picture of the women with a child. Mens breast

cancer is still not checked as frequently when men go for a regular check up. Breast cancer

impacts women with mental health problems. Many women feel not worthy enough once they

find out they have breast cancer and proceed with the treatment. Breast cancer treatment is very

harsh for women, since they go through chemotherapy and breast removal surgery.

Chemotherapy makes a person lose hair and can cause weight gain problems. Breast cancer isn't

just a cancer of the breast it also affects mentally and physically. Breast cancer makes a patient

lose weight rapidly, depressed, anxious, loss of hair, loss of energy, etc… also comes with breast

cancer.

What is being done to provide knowledge on breast cancer

Even though many people acknowledge breast cancer as a mom cancer, women who have

not given birth still run the risk of developing breast cancer. The risk of developing breast cancer

even though a woman has given birth, is due to family genetics and medical history. With these

resources given out it helped many women understand more about breast cancer and the risk they

have of developing it. Many people within communities also provided classes of breast cancer to

help those who are affected by breast cancer. October has also been made as the month to

celebrate breast cancer awareness in order to get people informed and get tested if anyone can
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relate to the symptoms. October takes focus on breast cancer and fliers are put up everywhere in

order to inform people of help that is available to the public. According to Nelson, et al., the U.S.

Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) advises women to get checked regularly as they get

older (727). Getting checked up regularly can help detect breast cancer at an early stage. It is

mostly advised for older women to get treated due to them running a higher risk, since many

older women have become mothers and are going to enter the stages of menopause where

hormones are not completely controlled.

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, the

National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project started modern surgical management of

treatment with research and in order to stop further development of breast cancer (11).

Management of treatment was very needed in order to prevent the cancer from growing more. As

all these resources and treatment were provided, it was very helpful especially to women. Since

many were now getting tested annually, women seemed to be more relaxed as they knew every

year they had a chance to get checked. 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). Pap smear test and mammogram are tests that

women get done yearly, which helps detect breast cancer. These tests are very important for

women to get every year, since women who have gone through childbirth are at higher risk of
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breast cancer. According to Northouse, et al., family involvement, optimistic attitude, coping

effectiveness, uncertainty reduction, and symptom management or otherwise known as FOCUS

is a program dedicated to help families and patients of breast cancer. Breast cancer can be a

major change in the lifestyle of the whole family. Breast cancer treatment costs a lot of time and

financial stability is needed for the treatment to last the period it needs. It also impacts a patient

economically, since many can’t afford the medical expenses. Breast cancer also requires

teamwork in order to get the patient through all of the emotions of the process.

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 is the fifth leading cause of death and with this research it can

be seen an increase of mortality rates (1296). This high mortality rate can be due to little to none

knowledge of breast cancer symptoms. Breast cancer should be acknowledged and more

understood with the advancement of medicine and technology, but sadly it hasn't. Breast cancer

has been an illness which has been around for sometime, but many still fail to know what it truly

is. This illness affects a patient in every aspect and patients have been increasing. More

acknowledgement about breast cancer should be brought to light in order to help people

understand it, and get treated at an early rate or get their regular check and treat it seriously.
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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,

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

demographic factors and machine learning.” Scientific Reports, vol. 10, no.

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

Complete, http://doi.org/10.1155/2020/6387378

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

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and immigrant women.” AIMS Public Health, vol. 9, no. 3, 2022, pp. 559–573.

Academic Search Complete, 10.3934/publichealth.2022039

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10.7326/0003-4819-151-10-200911170-00009.

Northouse, Laurel L., et al., “A Family-Based Program of Care for Women With

Recurrent Breast Cancer and Their Family Members.” Oncology Nursing Forum,

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

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