Breast and Prostate Cancer

Introduction

Cancer is one of the most common diseases today especially in the United States. This is according to research which indicates that many people especially those under the influence of smoking and taking excess alcohol are at the risk of contracting the disease. Statistics try and provide the total number of people who have been diagnosed with cancer and in our case the breast for the females and prostate for the male gender. Although cancer among men and women is on the rise, the organs which are affected are very different in terms of the physiological and anatomy function where both parts require the gonadal steroids for them to develop and the tumor which arises from this process is the typical hormone (Blein et al., 2014). Many of the current advances when it comes to understanding the development of cancer for the breast and prostate have given a way for new and advanced strategies for treatment. Many organizations are working to see to it that the effects and the advances of cancer in both men and women have been brought down and patients have an improved health.

A process called metastasis follows which is a process where the cancer cells start to travel into other parts of the body and immediately starts the damaging of the tissues and body organs (Siegel et al., 2013). For men, prostate cancer is one of the leading types of cancer which is diagnosed in men primarily in America every year. Prostate cancer is growth of cancer cells in the prostate gland which is a gland that is responsible for the formation of semen. The prostate is evidently the most common and dangerous type of cancer in men. Typically, some types of cancers grow significantly very slowly whereas others grow very fast and very aggressively and they spread to other body organs very quickly.

Summary

Symptoms of breast cancer include swelling or lumps under arms, discharge or change in nipple skin, change in size, feel and shape of the tissue of the breast, no painful masses or lumps and flattening of the breast. The symptoms of prostate cancer can vary in a person where some men do not show any until it develops in years. Some of the symptoms include having a frequent urination, blood spots in the semen or urine, discomfort during urination or ejaculation, weak urination, difficult to start or stop urination, and intense pain in the hips and thighs. Certain conditions can cause the enlargement of prostate cancer (Edwards et al., 2014). These terms are benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostatitis. BPH, as it is popularly known, is as a result of prostate growing very large. The BPH causes some symptoms through the creation of pressure in the urethra or bladder or both. This condition is widespread in the senior men, and it is a relatively benign condition.

Diagnosing cancer is very important to allow a person start first medication on ways to prevent it from growing. This is however positive for the people living with breast cancer but disadvantageous for the people living with prostate cancer who will start having side effects immediately they start on medication (Siegel et al., 2013). Preventing cancer is very important for those who are not yet diagnosed with cancer as it helps them live a life free from disease. The affected individuals should try their very best and ensure medical attention is provided early enough. In many cases, alcohol and smoking are associated with cancer, and therefore people should not engage in either or reduce the activity. 

Preventive services

Screening mammography decision for the women after the ages of 50 should be very individual as a starting point. Chemotherapy is an effective method of treating prostate cancer. This is done through reducing the chances of the ability of the affected cells from growing. Chemotherapy is offered by the medical oncologist after some time (Edwards et al., 2014). Systemic chemotherapy is very common since it gets into the bloodstream and reaches the cancer cells distributed throughout the body. In many cases, screening of prostate cancer is considered not to prevent any deaths, therefore, recommending the services. Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery are some of the examples of preventive services for people living with cancer. When it comes to breast cancer, women above the ages of 50years benefit from the program compared to the younger women.

Considering the data for cancer screening in females, it is evident that there are minimal chances of harm than the benefits, therefore, an efficient method for cancer patients (Blein et al., 2014). For some time, breast cancer diagnosis is crucial since it prevents the late preventive methods which have more side effects. Removing of the breast cancer is more comfortable than handling prostate cancer, and therefore breast cancer screening is more important. Compared to breast cancer, people living with prostate cancer have a chance of experiencing more side effects than the people living with breast cancer.

Factors which might impact decisions related to preventive services

Women who feel it is to their advantage to start the screening early might choose to begin the process of biennial screening can start between the age of 40 to 49. The benefit to harm balance is most likely predicted to improve as a woman moves from the early 40s to the late 40s. Ethnicity is another factor that affects the preventive measures in, especially women. The African American society is known to assume the medical process and start gaining the interest after delays. This in return causes the higher death rate among the African American (Welch et al., 2016). At the more advanced levels of breast cancer, the African American women start seeking medical attention, and at this stage, there is very little which can be done. The availability and access to health care services for the whites give them access to medical care as compared to the African Americans who do not have the advantage of medical treatment. Having access to primary health care provider is very advantageous since treatment is guaranteed at the early stages (DeSantis et al., 2014). Men who are above the age of 70 should and are required to be tested under specific circumstances such as during the higher than median prostate-specific antigen which is measured below the 70 years.

Ethnicity also is a factor that affects the preventive services of prostate cancer. The whites are the most affected by the disease as compared to the backs or the Hispanics. White men are related to being very active in alcohol-related fields whereas the blacks have been related to being very obese. Such factors have influenced the level of cancer survivors in the United States. The fact that the whites did not want to stop taking excess alcohol indicated the possible factor for the many deaths of prostate cancer victims (DeSantis et al., 2014). This increases the probability of whites who are still undertaking medical services to die of prostate cancer. Among the blacks, the rate of death is highly caused by being very obese in the process. Obesity is a factor that affects blacks, and this increases the chances of prostate cancer being a killer disease.

Treatment options

Local treatments are very available which involve treating the tumor without affecting the other body organs. They can include surgery and radiotherapy. Systemic treatments are also available where drugs are required since the drugs have the capability of reaching the cancer cells anywhere in the body (Welch et al., 2016). The drugs can be given through the mouth or into the bloodstream such as chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and targeted therapy. In many cases, the effects of breast cancer treatment vary. Long-term effects include having an early menopause, infertility, sexuality issues, depression, fear of recurrence and fatigue. Short-term effects include experiencing loss of hair and one fighting to cope with the loss, nausea and occasional vomiting, toenail and fingernail weakness, pain in the muscles, fatigue, and anemia.

At the early stages, surveillance and waiting is the most preferred type of treatment. The active form is preferred by many men as it allows the men to have a long life expectancy and can benefit from a curative therapy in case the disease worsens. The side effects related to the treatment of prostate cancer include having difficulty in the urinary control and also a dysfunction when it comes to erecting (DeSantis et al., 2014). The ability to control the urine was lowered therefore causing a person to do it at anytime and anywhere. Erections became very weak to sustain an intercourse whereas many others indicated a moderate sexual functioning. These effects are usually caused by the drugs and the surgical processes that men undergo to remove the tumor.  These effects are mainly caused by the drugs, and the methods involved treating cancer. Most of these facts are as a result of the chemotherapy. 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Blein, S., Berndt, S., Joshi, A. D., Campa, D., Ziegler, R. G., Riboli, E., ... & Diver, W. R. (2014). Factors associated with oxidative stress and cancer risk in the Breast and Prostate Cancer Cohort Consortium. Free radical research, 48(3), 380-386.

DeSantis, C. E., Lin, C. C., Mariotto, A. B., Siegel, R. L., Stein, K. D., Kramer, J. L., ... & Jemal, A. (2014). Cancer treatment and survivorship statistics, 2014. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians, 64(4), 252-271.

Edwards, B. K., Noone, A. M., Mariotto, A. B., Simard, E. P., Boscoe, F. P., Henley, S. J., ... & Eheman, C. R. (2014). Annual Report to the Nation on the status of cancer, 1975‐2010, featuring prevalence of comorbidity and impact on survival among persons with lung, colorectal, breast, or prostate cancer. Cancer, 120(9), 1290-1314.

Miller, K. D., Siegel, R. L., Lin, C. C., Mariotto, A. B., Kramer, J. L., Rowland, J. H., ... & Jemal, A. (2016). Cancer treatment and survivorship statistics, 2016. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians, 66(4), 271-289.

Siegel, R., Naishadham, D., & Jemal, A. (2013). Cancer statistics, 2013. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians, 63(1), 11-30.

Welch, H. G., Gorski, D. H., Albertsen, P. C., Andriole, G., Crawford, E., Grubb III, R. L., ... & Roobol, M. J. (2016). Trends in Metastatic Breast and Prostate Cancer. N Engl J Med, 374, 596.