Breast Cancer: One Disease and Many

Ilaria D’Elia had been feeling unwell, but was too excited about getting her dream acting job and decorating her new house to worry. When she found a lump in her breast, just after her thirty-third birthday, Ilaria immediately visited her doctor. Upon examination, her doctor thought it was the result of her hormones flaring up and discounted the possibility of cancer due to her young age. Ilaria felt unsure and decided to get a second opinion. It was fortunate that she listened to her body, because Ilaria was diagnosed by a second doctor with an aggressive form of breast cancer. She then faced the unexpected challenge of educating herself about her disease. She wrote in her diary, “My fears have been confirmed after endless tests and waiting for what seemed like an eternity. I have breast cancer. The doctor says it’s aggressive. The type of cancer I have is HER2-positive. I didn’t even know that there were different types of breast cancer.”

Unfortunately, Ilaria’s story isn’t uncommon. One woman out of every ten will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime and you can count yourself very fortunate if you or someone you love has not gone through the torture of chemotherapy or the emotional strain of a mastectomy. Enter “Breast Cancer” into Google and “1-10 of about 2, 230,000” results pop onto the screen. An overabundance of information exists, proving that too many have been touched by this disease. But what should women know about this killer in order to help themselves and loved ones?

There are things known to increase the risk of developing breast cancer: age, family history, exposure to hormones, alcohol, and obesity. It is important to be aware of these risk factors, but it is just as important that all women are educated about breast cancer in order to diagnose it and fight it effectively, either for themselves or loved ones. Breast cancer is a complex disease made up of many different types. Different processes trigger its growth and some breast cancers are more difficult to diagnose or more aggressive than others.

A familiar symptom of breast cancer is a lump in the breast or under the arm. However, there are breast cancers that are not accompanied by this common sign. Inflammatory Breast Cancer is rare, but very aggressive and is often misdiagnosed initially. Women with inflammatory breast cancer frequently experience redness, swelling and fever, but no lump.