Runninghead: BREAST CANCER

Breast Cancer
Brittney Ybarra
Professor Okpala
HSCI 360
March 22, 2014

Abstract
For many years now women have had problems with health one familiar epidemic that
has arose and not yet controllable is breast cancer. Breast cancer is one of the leading

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causes of death for women in the United States. Although we have found a way to make
the disease tolerable there has yet to be a complete cure for this epidemic. There are
many factors that weigh in with breast cancer whether that gene runs in your family, not a
healthy person, or it triggers at a certain age. We still do not entirely know how we cannot
avoid the disease nor completely get rid of it. From different studies it is clear that
radiation, chemo therapy and medication can help but have its risks as well.
Keywords: Breast cancer, epidemic, genes, radiation, chemo therapy

Introduction
Women suffer from many chronic diseases whether it be bacteria infections any
other countless other epidemics, it also causes women to be high maintenance. Women

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epidemics are changing the way women live and go about their daily activities this causes
women to have to be more alert in the things they chose to do. We also know for a fact
that breast cancer is weighed heavy with genes, non healthy living habits and in some
ways age can trigger this disease. Women are required to have a breast augmentation
twice a year to ensure that they are healthy and nothing out of the ordinary has come
about. This specific disease has been a challenging issue to overcome. Of course we have
foundations for these women that are undergoing this epidemic, but it doesnt amount to
the suffering they go through. Age and health history have plenty to deal with the
outcome of a woman. Radiation, Chemo therapy, breast removal, hormone therapy, and
other treatments are just a start. Narrowing down where breast cancer originates, how it
can be reduced and how we can avoid it will help more generations to come, and also can
help us today. Studies in which uphold all of these answers can be compared to women
now and can become a positive outlook. By comparing different therapies we can find
which works best with what patient and what type of breast cancer.
Literature Review
First Group of Studies
Healthy lifestyles can reduce chances of breast cancer. According to some
studies engaging in regular physical activities and maintaining a healthy diet can reduce
the factors of a woman getting breast cancer. They can decrease the risk of getting breast
cancer by fifty percent if they maintain a healthy weight, also if they decrease their
alcohol intake that can help. Breast feeding also is very healthy for the woman and her
child. The problem that we face in this era is that many men and women are over weight,
and because of the necessity of fast food it has made it easy for people not to get the

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actual nutrition they actually need. Most American citizens do not have the motivation to
go to the local gym and exercise or even to go out and go for a walk. It does not make it
easy for Americans to stay healthy when there is a Mc Donalds on every corner. They
make it more convenient for families. Diets for women with breast cancer are highly
recommended, because it is better for your body. In one case study they wanted to see the
results of the women that chose a healthy life style versus the women that didnt with
breast cancer. Their subjects were 41- 70 years of age according to Skeie, Hjartaker, and
Lund (2006). There first was no dietary requirements because that study was not yet
thought of how it can affect women with breast cancer, until they seen the difference in
survival with women who were dedicated to living healthy. They gave special attention to
the consumption of fish and fish products for the dietary.
Measuring alcohol intake, and 63-79 food items they constantly had in their diet.
Daily nutritional intake by each patient was measured and calculated by how many
calories, sugars and fats were being digested. They also took into account if they had
family members that smoked (or smoked inside the household), because that variable can
have a big part of the survival rate of the participating patient. They had different variable
groups of different ages, different BMIs and energy intake simply because a younger
woman has a better chance of fighting breast cancer because she has more energy intake
than a woman twice her age. Their results were that breast cancer patients who had
cancer and survived were older than a healthy woman (because during the process of
cancer it wares on the body which causes your body to age not necessarily your actual
age) and a long-term survivor were the eldest. Something that was interesting, more

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than twice as many breast cancer survivors had a mother with breast cancer compared to
a healthy woman, and this difference was highly significant (Skeie 2006).
Second Group of Studies
Depending on families genes breast cancer can run through families. For
every three women on the fathers side is equal to one woman on the mothers side. If
your mothers side carries the gene of breast cancer the next generation is more than
likely to pass that gene along. If on the fathers side you must have more than one woman
for the gene to really be effective. According to the first study of Haber, Ahmed and
Pekovic(2012), one in every eight to receive breast cancer because of family history. In
the study they conducted they estimated that over a ten year span only six percent of
women received a mammogram every year. They used age, race/ethnicity, zip code,
income, language, insurance stats, previous screening use and medical history. The study
was repeated for 5 years: sixteen percent in women 50 to 74 enrolled in a health
organization and thirty percent in women 65 years and older enrolled in Medicare plan 10
received five mammograms in a 5- year plan (Haber et al. 2012). Also another important
factor is 15 to 20 percent of diagnosed cases were from family history. That other 80
percent was from women who had no record of breast cancer in family history.
Third Group of Studies
The effects of breast cancer treatment. There are many therapies that can help
make this disease mild but it is not guaranteed that it will cure it but it can make the
disease go away for some time. Breast cancer is mostly found in older women, therefore
Marcantonio, McCarthy, Silliman, and Schonberg created a study with women 80 years
or older (2012). They were tested by characteristics, treatment received and the outcomes

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of their treatment. All women 80 years of age and older received their primary care, the
research was contained of mammograms and the abnormal tests that were presented.
Obtained information such as; insurance type, race/ ethnicity, and zip code. Treatment of
breast cancer was listed from mastectomy, breast removal, radiotherapy, hormonal
therapy, and chemotherapy. For the survival data was taken when the cause of death from
medical record was available. All of their participants were alive as the of June 30,2010.
More than half of the women received one of the treatments listed earlier for their stage
in breast cancer. A quarter of the women received standard treatment, and a few of the
women received no treatment. Five years later they followed up with their patients and
forty-seven women died, and some patients were near death and only eight were known
to be alive. Most of the women that were diagnosed were not only diagnosed with breast
cancer but also had other side effects of something else wrong with them. Therefore in
their study they had set out to have a better outcome but stats received back were not
what they had thought.
Comparative Analysis
Similarities
First similarity. The ultimate goal was to find what exactly triggers the activity
of breast cancer. Reading the different studies and the results of these studies its easy to
see that there are no answers to why exactly breast cancer comes from nothing. It seems
that women who take part in a healthy lifestyle with annual mammograms are more likely
to catch this epidemic before its too late. Most of the studies had the same conclusions
that there is no way of actually preventing this disease or how we can survive; all we
know is that there are ways to make this disease mild. Living healthy lifestyles, eating

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better, more physical exercise can help a womans chances lower than a woman not living
a healthy lifestyle.
Second similarity. Most of the group studies had the same age group, which was
surprising. The age group averaged at 40- 65 years of age. This was an important key
factor for women to know when they reach a certain age it is critical to get annual
mammograms to be sure they are as healthy as they think they are. Women older than the
average age did not have a positive outlook as for the woman in the age bracket. Simply
because women 40-65 years of age have a stronger heart and can undergo therapies and
still have some strength left whereas the woman older have a more fragile heart and
cannot undergo strong radiation or chemotherapy.
Differences
First difference. After both studies between papers there was one thing that was
particularly different in Marcantonio (2012) research he conducted that a healthy lifestyle
cannot dramatically change a persons outcome. In another research with Skeie (2006) he
tells us that in fact healthy habits give a person a better survival rate for a woman with
breast cancer. If they are in the range of 40-65 and have been conditioning their bodies to
eat a certain way or exercise a certain way it builds their body and energy stronger. This
is the main reason women in that age group have a stronger heart, because they are more
mobile.
Second difference. Another difference was most took note of racial/ ethnicity
groups instead of counting women as a whole. They did this to know which group of
women was more prone to getting breast cancer than another group was. After reading
each study their conclusions were not far apart from one another.

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8
Conclusion

Once done with analyzing each paper and their studies, breast cancer is not
something that is easy to make completely disappear and there are some factors that are
unclear. Different variables can weigh into account of how a woman with breast cancer
will survive, but it is ultimately up to the woman to portray more healthy elements to
overcome this epidemic. Woman in the age range of 40-65 are more likely to receive
breast cancer and are required to have an annual mammogram. In order for these women
with the genetics of breast cancer (especially on mothers side) to remain healthy and have
a better chance of not receiving breast cancer they should live a more healthy lifestyle.

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