If you're the praying type...

During my time in Thailand I lived with an AMAZING girl named Brooke. While there her mom and my mom both came over for Christmas. During that time I got to know Bev, and since then I've been reading her blog.

In her latest entry she told us that she's been diagnosed with breast cancer. I don't know a lot of details but I do know that it is invasive ductal carcinoma (with some areas of ductal carcinoma in situ). Please join me, Bev's friend and the Brandon family in lifting up this amazing woman in prayer!!!!
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For those of you who want some information, here's my cliff notes (more can be found here and here and here):

Breast cancer can be invasive or non-invasive, with invasive meaning that it has the potential to spread, or metastasize. When it comes to non-invasive cancers there are 2 main types: ductal carcinoma in situ and lobular carcinoma in situ (a.k.a. DCIS, LCIS).

DCIS is usually found by screening mammography and can usually be treated with lumpectomy, and depending on the type, with Taxmofien or Herceptin (chemotherapy drugs). It can be low, intermediate or high grade, with high grade meaning the cell transformations are more advanced (thus implying a worse prognosis). LCIS is usually seen in pre-menopausal women, cannot usually be seen clinically or by mammogram, and is incidental; however, LCIS is usually a marker for more extensive cancer elsewhere, meaning that these patients should be put on high risk screening recommendations.

When it comes to invasive cancers, there are 3 different types: invasive ductal carcinoma, invasive lobular carcinoma, and inflammatory breast cancer. Of the 3 invasive ductal carcinoma is the most common (75%); inflammatory breast carcinoma is the most aggressive. However, with all 3 of them, there is invasion into the lymphatic vessels (the vessels that return fluid from your tissues to your blood stream). This means that cancer cells can get into your circulation and spread. The first thing that these cancer cells encounter are your lymph nodes, the small group of tissue that contains your immune cells.

The staging of a cancer is the most important thing that determines the prognosis (or survival). For breast cancer, the staging is made up of whether there is evidence of cancer in the axillary lymph nodes (the ones in your arm pits), how large the tumor is, the grade (which means how advanced the cell changes are), as well as other factors... including whether the cancer is ER+ or Her2+.

Both ER+ and Her2+ are designations as to whether the cell certain factors that can be treated with specific antibody medications; having these means that the cancer is more sensitive to chemotherapy, and thus good things to have.

PLEASE REMEMBER that the best way to prevent breast cancer is monthly self breast exams! Also, please make sure you have yearly appointments with your family doctor or gynecologist, and mammographs if you're over 40 years old.

And as always, please remember that I'm a medical student, NOT a doctor. If you have any concerns please CONTACT YOUR DOCTOR. And if you want any more information, feel free to check out the sites above....