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Breast Cancer Case Study
May 6, 2015
By: Ashley Wertz
Abstract: There are several factors that could potentially influence the prognosis of breast cancer.
Breast cancer is an aggressive type of cancer that is found to be the most common type of cancer
among women. There are several ways to detect breast cancer in a person. To better understand
the trajectory of breast cancer, this paper discusses a personal example. As each year passes, the
number of new cases of breast cancer diagnoses increases. Unfortunately, there is no cure for
breast cancer yet; but there are several forms of treatment that have been proven to be successful.
Each type and stage of breast cancer varies in how aggressive it can become and how well it can
be treated.
The goal of this project was to educationally write a case study. This assignment fulfilled the
requirements for short paper one. The purpose of the writing is to fulfill course requirements for
BBH 411W and to stand as a personal writing sample, but the findings should not be treated as
generalizable research
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Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is an aggressive type of cancer that is found to be the most common type of
cancer among women. This form of cancer typically develops in the milk-producing glands
within the breast tissue. With lung cancer being the most common type of cancer overall, breast
cancer falls directly behind it being the second most common overall. The rigorous disease of
cancer is developed when cells in the body grow uncontrollably. These cells can be mutated in
some way that can also create a tumor being either benign (non-cancerous) or malignant
(cancerous) (“What Is Breast Cancer”, 2014). Using linkage and mutation analysis, a specific
study about the abnormal genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 has shown that there is a 95% confidence
interval (Ford, 1998). This fact alone proves that there is a correlation between these genes and
breast cancer. It also shows that these genes are related to this disease being hereditary within
families where breast cancer is present. Ordinarily being found in women, breast cancer can also
be rarely found in men. “In reality, about 1 in 8 women in the United States — 12%, or 12 out of
every 100 — can expect to develop breast cancer over the course of an entire lifetime” (“What Is
Breast Cancer”, 2014, p.1 ).
There are several ways to detect breast cancer in a person. Mammogram screenings are
the most effective way to discover breast cancer. Other symptoms or signs of breast cancer
include feeling a suspicious lump or mass within the breast, swelling of any kind to the breast,
irritation or dimpling of the skin in the breast area, any pain within the breast or nipple, inversion
of the nipple, any discharge from the nipple that is not breast milk, and any color change or
thickening of the skin on or around the breast or nipple (“Breast Cancer Prevention and Early
Detection”, 2015).
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Starting at the age of 40, it is crucial for every woman to have a mammogram at least
once per year to screen for breast cancer. Women who have had breast cancer in their family
history should get screenings more often. This increases their chances of detecting breast cancer
at an early stage that can be treated more effectively and efficiently. Some risk factors that can be
controlled are weight, exercise, alcohol consumption, diet, the amount of exposure to radiation,
the use of hormones, geographical location, and smoking (McPherson, 2000). It is essential to
have a healthy diet and weight because a greater amount of fat cells increases the amount of
estrogen in the body. One of the main causes of breast cancer is the excessive amount of estrogen
that is being overproduced. A few other risk factors that cannot be controlled consist of the age
of a woman’s first menstruation, the age of menopause, growing older in general, medical
history, gender, race, and family history of breast cancer (McPherson, 2000). A woman is more
at risk for breast cancer before she goes through menopause, usually between the ages of 40 and
50, due to the amount of estrogen being produced in the body. In men, the mean age of
developing breast cancer is around 64 years old (Donegan, 1996).
To better understand the trajectory of breast cancer, consider a personal example. In
September of 2010, a healthy 53- year-old woman was diagnosed with a very early stage of
breast cancer. She had never smoked a cigarette in her life, moderately consumed alcohol, did
not exercise as much as a person should but was at a relatively healthy weight, and did not have
any history of breast cancer within her family. After undergoing surgery to remove the cancerous
cells from the breast tissue along with receiving several rounds of radiation, she was put on a
type of medicine that was to decrease her estrogen levels. A lesser amount of estrogen in the
body decreases the chances of the breast cancer returning along with keeping the cancer cells
from spreading. She experimented with several different drugs in order to keep the cancer from
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coming back. She quickly went back to her everyday life of working full time, moderately
consuming alcohol, continued to not smoke or exercise as much, and maintained a healthy
weight. After four years of being in remission and doing well, she began to experience a sharp
pain in her abdominal area. She went to the emergency department to later find out that
numerous tests were needed and that the emergency physician had spoken with her oncologist.
Those tests showed that the type of primary breast cancer she had had metastasized to her liver,
now leaving her with stage four breast cancer. Aggressive action was taken to immediately
decrease the cancer cells that were described to be like a spider web throughout her liver. She
received intense chemotherapy for eight months straight that certainly took a toll on her body.
She experienced several hospital stays, lack of nutrition, fevers, extreme fatigue, nausea and
vomiting, constipation, hair loss, and forgetfulness known more as “chemo brain”. After these
strong treatments and several check-ups with her oncologist, she has finally received terrific
news that the chemotherapy has been working. Test results showed more scar tissue in her liver
in place of the cancer cells that were once there in the beginning of this long journey. Due to the
type of breast cancer this woman has, she will never be considered “cancer free”. Even though
all of the cancer cells will never be fully eliminated, with the doctor’s treatments and frequent
check-ups, this mother of three will be able to continue to watch her children grow. With the
cancer cells being maintained and “inactive”, she is now considered to be in remission and is
able to begin rebuilding her strength.
As each year passes, the number of new cases of breast cancer diagnoses increases. If a
woman becomes pregnant after the age of 30, this can also increase the risk of developing breast
cancer later on in life. This fact plays a role in part of the reasoning behind the increase of breast
cancer in older women. Breast cancer is not always necessarily a permanent disease, although
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there is always the risk of reoccurrence. For a person who has stage four metastatic breast cancer,
the average survival rate is around five years after diagnosis. A study was conducted where the
patterns between metastatic biological subtypes and its analogous prognosis were investigated. In
relation to the case previously mentioned, this specific study confirmed that metastatic liver
involvement resulted in worse overall survival (Gerratana, 2015). The typical time scale for
breast cancer depends on what stage the cancer is found and how it is treated.
Unfortunately, there is no cure for breast cancer yet; but there are several forms of
treatment that have been proven to be successful. Each type and stage of breast cancer varies in
how aggressive it can become and how well it can be treated. In 2014, breast cancer was
responsible for the deaths of 40,000 females and 430 males (“Breast Cancer”, p.1). Due to the
aggressive actions that need to be done in order to fight this disease, the quality of life is
decreased for the time being while receiving treatments. A person getting these treatments can
experience several side effects that can affect their overall quality of life. As previously
mentioned, some of these side effects can consist of nausea and vomiting, constipation, diarrhea,
fatigue, cardiac complications, hair loss, poor memory/absentmindedness, and several others.
There are several factors that could potentially influence the prognosis of breast cancer.
As previously discussed, routine mammogram screenings should occur yearly and more often if
anything suspicious is found. Along with receiving frequent screenings, self-examinations are
also important to actively include in a person’s lifestyle. Furthermore, conducting more clinical
trials and research can help lead to the discovery of what further changes can be done in a
person’s lifestyle in order to influence the prognosis of breast cancer. After all of the research
and clinical trials that have already been completed, there is still no cure for breast cancer. “The
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current state of knowledge regarding the causes of and risk-reducing behaviors for breast cancer
is extremely limited.” (Lantz, 1998, p. 915).
A change in lifestyle that people can furthermore take part of is the amount of alcohol
they consume. When a woman drinks alcohol, her estrogen levels increase. One of the main risk
factors for breast cancer is the elevation of estrogen levels. If the genetic and environmental
factors that influence estrogen in a woman’s body were decreased, there could be a beneficial
outcome that leads to the reduction of breast cancer diagnoses (Clemons, 2009).
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"Breast Cancer." National Cancer Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/breast>.
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America 76.2 (1996): 343-63. ScienceDirect. Web. 7 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0039610905704436>.
Lantz, Paula M., and Karen M. Booth. "The Social Construction of the Breast Cancer Epidemic."
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<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953697002189>.
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