Breast cancer can strike at any time. Because of the prevalence of this disease and the pain it can cause for years, breast cancer awareness has been on the rise to help people better identify and diagnose before it gets worse. For those that have been told they may have to attend advanced cancer treatment options, it’s important to know you have more options than ever before. Your average breast cancer specialist has access to both a non-invasive cancer treatment as well as highly advanced proton therapy that is proven to target the tumor from the ground up.
Breast cancer may be widespread, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be beat. Before you see a breast cancer specialist, learn more about breast cancer below.
How Many People Have Breast Cancer?
Easily the most common form of cancer, outside of prostate cancer, is breast cancer. According to recent studies, it’s estimated one out of every eight American women will develop a form of breast cancer. Thousands of new cases crop up every year, each with varying degrees of severity, and these numbers are not expected to drop any time soon. There is a silver lining, however, as breast cancer is easy to diagnose and more treatment options have been cropping up over the past decade. Proton therapy for breast cancer is proven to work.
Can You Self-Diagnose Breast Cancer?
A major facet of breast cancer awareness is diagnosing this disease as early as possible. The sooner it can be pinpointed and targeted, the higher a patient’s chance of survival and easy recovery. Women should check their breasts on a semi-regular basis, feeling all the way around for potential lumps or discoloration that could be indicative of the disease. It’s important to remember that hormonal lumps are fairly common and are not tumors, the difference of which can be spotted by a trained nurse or doctor.
What Treatment Options Are There For Breast Cancer?
There are many treatment options available for different stages of breast cancer. Proton therapy is a form of radiation known for stopping and starting at very specific points in the targeted tissue. Conventional radiation, on the other hand, continues far beyond the tumor and is known to cause further complications in the recovery stage. The beginning of 2015 saw over 30 particle therapy centers cropping up around the world. Each one has around 80 treatment rooms, to boot.
Why Is Proton Therapy So Successful?
Proton therapy is fast replacing traditional forms of cancer treatment for its accuracy, speed and long-term benefits. Thanks to proton therapy’s more targeted approach, prostate cancer rates have seen a significant dip in severity. Studies have found that prostate cancer patients treated using this method had a much reduced risk of impotence — over 90% of men reported they remained sexually active after the treatment. Proton therapy also decreases radiation doses to gastrointestinal structures by at least 60% compared to the average x-ray.
Should I See A Breast Cancer Specialist?
All women should see a breast cancer specialist even if they don’t suspect they have breast cancer. Even a small chance you could be developing the disease right under your nose is best spotted as soon as possible, as you are far better off when you seek out a breast cancer cure than if you had waited. The average proton therapy treatment session only takes 15 to 45 minutes (with the actual time spent delivering each proton one to two minutes). Breast cancer is a widespread disease that is debilitating, painful and even deadly.
With a little awareness and technology on our side, however, the road ahead has never looked better.
