Cancer

In this report, we interviewed a cancer patient, asked some questions, and researched the topic on a specific cancer.

The woman that I interviewed, namely, my grandmother, had breast cancer and she was diagnosed in September 31, 2000. At that time she was 63. There were no symptoms other than changes in shape like dents in the skin, etc. Her immediate response was the question, “Why is it me? How did I get it?” and she felt very sad and worried. She underwent chemotherapy, and then she had a surgery to remove the tumors. She did know what it specifically targeted, and so the chemotherapy was to reduce the size of the tumor and since it was inflamed, so it was also to help reduce the inflammation. Undergoing treatment, she did not like to talk, and her favorite foods did not seem appealing anymore. Everyone started taking care of her even more, and she did not have the energy to talk, so communication between family and friends went down dramatically. Her perspective of life changed as she began to recognize how frail life is, and how much we have to pay for the price of a life. She said that everything we know about cancer is correct and that it is a very dangerous and painful process. She offered a piece of advice. She told me to not overwhelm myself with work and not to sacrifice my health even if it is to care for the people that I know.

Note: These are not the exact words, as she can only speak in Chinese so I had to translate it into this report.

Research Questions:

1. Breast cancer is a malignant tumor, which means that it starts out occurring in the breast cells but can spread to other parts of the body though metastasis. Therefore, it is possible for all the tissues and organs to be affected, but the starting point is the most likely.

2. There are two genes that either help speed up cell division and slow down cell division. The type that speeds it up is called oncogenes while the ones that slow them down have a very appropriate name, tumor suppressors. Because the way of replicating DNA is  not always perfect, sometimes there are mutations that can make the oncogenes activate and cause tumors, or there can be mutations that can turn off the tumor suppressor genes, thereby causing more tumors/cancers. Sometimes, the mutations can be inherited, and so it doesn’t suppress abnormal growth, making it easier for breast cancer cells to develop. This theory is the general cancer cell theory. Specifically for breast cancer, there is the female hormone estrogen, which makes the breast cells divide faster, therefore making that those tissues more prone to tumors and cancer.

3. Cell cycle is the process of the cells dividing, although it may also be the process of it just staying in G1 phase. The cells have to pass various checkpoints to go into the next phase. Cyclins help regulate the cell cycle so that cancers do not occur. However, mutations cause the cyclins at the checkpoints to not bother with the damaged cells, and moving it to the next stage, causing cancer.

4. There are two types of treatments: local and systemic therapy. Local therapy is removing the cancer cells at that specific location, such as through surgery, where they directly cut out the tumor, and radiation therapy, where they target the cancer cells with radiation to destroy it along with the blood vessels that feed the cancer. Systemic therapy is a type which can affect cancer cells everywhere on the body. It is usually injected into the bloodstream or fed to the patient. Some of these are chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and targeted therapy. Even after the removal of the tumor, some cancer cells may have broken off prior to the treatment, which can cause tumors later. To prevent this, doctors usually use neoadjuvant therapy before the surgery, which will shrink the tumor and make the chances of another tumor appearing smaller. Adjuvant therapy is sometimes used after the surgery to kill the leftover hidden cancer cells.

5. In order to prevent breast cancer, people need to limit the alcohol they drink, do not smoke and stay away from secondhand smoke, prevent obesity, stay physically active, avoid exposure to radiation(yes, radiation can kill cancer cells, but it can also cause more cancer cells in the process), and do not do hormone therapy for a long time because it may cause it to come back.

6. 1 in 8 women develops breast cancer in the course of her lifetime, although for men it’s only 1 in every thousand. Breast cancer rates have been reduced because people are using less hormone replacement therapy after it was suspected of leading to breast cancer. 30% of cancer in women are breast cancer, just under skin cancer. In 2014, there are 2.8 million women who have had breast cancer before, are being treated, or are diagnosed with it, and each year, 40,000 people die from breast cancer.

7. Breast cancer varies among populations, with the highest in the U.S. and lowest in Asian countries. It also varies with race within the U.S. population. According to Medscape, “Breast cancer incidence among Chinese-American and Japanese-American women from 1973-1986 was about 50% lower for those born in Asia and about 25% lower for those born in the United States compared to white women born in the United States.”And also, it turns out that the probability that someone gets breast cancer grows until they are fifty, at which it remains the same. Since 1950, the number of women that get breast cancer are growing, nearly doubling in some urban countries such as China, as well as increasing in Western countries such as the U.S. due to growing affluence in the countries.