Breast Cancer Causes and Risk Factors Research Assignment (Essay Sample)

Breast Cancer Causes and Risk FactorsNameInstitutionInstructorCourseDate
Abstract
Breast cancer can be defined as malignant tumor that begins to grow in the breast cells. The malignant tumor being type of cancer cells begins to grow and spread to the surrounding tissues invading them and spreading to distant part of the body. Causes of breast cancer are not fully known, however there are a number of risk factors that have been identified by researchers to be either increasing or decreasing the chances of getting breast cancer. Through modifications of behaviors and lifestyles the risks of developing breast cancer can be reduced through minimization of exposure to specific risk factors like obesity. Studies and research conducted have shown that the most common attribution factor in women with breast cancer are inheritance factors (40.6 %), followed by lifestyles factors (25.1%) like smoking and poor diet, and environmental factors (10.4 %) like food additives, emotional or mental factors such as stress, and physiological factors related to hormonal history (Harding & Harding, 2006). Breast cancer is more complex since it’s caused by a combination of risk factors some of which may be controlled like taking exercises and others which may be out of controlled like getting older and being a woman. Studies have found that there’s no sure causes of breast cancer but just the risk factors that increases the chances of developing breast cancer
Keywords: Breast cancer, Causes, Risk factors
Breast Cancer Risk Factors
The exact cause of breast cancer still remains unknown, through there are risk factors that increases a woman chance of developing breast cancer. Anything that increases a person’s chance of developing breast cancer are risk factors. Different types of cancer have different risk factors, for example smoking to much tobacco have the risk of developing lung cancer, mouth, kidney, larynx, bladder and several organs of the body. Exposing skin to strong sunlight has the risk of developing skin cancer. Having the risk factors does not mean that one will automatically develop breast cancer but it increases the chances of developing breast cancer. Risks like age, person’s behavior cannot be changed while some other risks are associated with cancer causing risk factors from the environment. The risk of developing breast cancer can change depending on the factors such as lifestyle or aging, and some other risks are related to diet, drinking and smoking.
Breast Cancer and Lifestyle-Related Risk Factors
The lifestyle of a persons may increase the chances of one developing breast cancer such as having children. Studies have shown that women who had their first child at late ages and ones who have never had a child at all in their entire life have high chances of developing breast cancer generally. Becoming pregnant at early age and having many pregnancies reduces the chances of developing breast cancer. On the other hand, pregnancy effects may be different in various types of breast cancer since triple-negative cancer increases with pregnancy. Harding and Harding (2006) about the causes, cure and prevention of breast cancer argued that:
Birth control measures such as using oral contraceptives and Depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA; Depo-Provera) increases the chances of developing breast cancer. Currently, women that are using DMPA have greater risk of developing breast cancer, but the risk reduces if the drug was used more than five years ago. The risks reduces back to normal over some period of time when women stops administering pills into their systems (p.18).
In addition, studies have shown that excessive drinking or alcohol consumption increases the risk of developing breast cancer, and the risk increases with amount of alcohol a woman consume per day. Women who consume a lot of alcohol per day have greater chances to breast cancer than women who are non-drinkers. Moreover, being obese or overweight also increases chances or breast cancer risks. Overweight women have high amount of insulin in their blood, and this high level of insulin in the blood results to development of some cancers, breast cancer included. After menopause, most of the women’s estrogen comes from the fat tissues and therefore women with more fat tissues can produce high amount of estrogen leading to high level of estrogen hence increases the chances of developing breast cancer.
Risk Factors Not Related to Personal Choice
These are risk factors that persons finds themselves in without choice such as gender. One may not decide the type of gender to belong in before birth. Studies have shown that just by being a woman, a person’s chances of developing breast cancer are much higher than when one could be a man. Women are 100 times more likely to develop breast cancer than men because women have more of hormone progesterone and estrogen that encourages growth of breast cancer. Moreover, the risk of developing breast cancer increases as one gets older. Aging women of the age 45 years and below are mostly found with low invasive breast cancer while those at the age of 55 years and older are mostly diagnosed and found about 2 of 3 invasive breast cancer.
Additionally, studies have found that genetic factors such as the gene mutation and alteration of the DNA substances increases the chances of developing breast cancer. Studies have shown that about 6% to 11% cases of breast cancer had resulted from defects of gene and are thought to be hereditary inherited from the parents. DNA the chemical substance in our cells that issue instructions on how our cells functions such as resembling our parents because they are the source of our DNA. Oncogenes speed up cell division while tumor suppressor genes slow down division of cells and cause them to die at their right time. Certain mutations in the gene functions that may cause turning on or off of those genes may lead to breast cancer. Furthermore, both the acquired mutations and inherited gene mutations may lead to development of breast cancer.
Personal history of breast cancer may also increase the chances of re-occurrences of breast cancer in women. Women that had experience breast cancer in one breast has high chances of developing a new breast cancer in part of the same breast or other breast. The risk may be even higher if breast cancer was diagnosed with her at her younger age. ...