Doctor's Notes on Breast Cancer in Children
Breast cancer is a disease where malignant cells multiply to form tumors in the breast of a male or female child. Signs and symptoms of breast cancer in children include
- a change in the size or shape of the breast,
- a lump or thickening tissue near the breast or underarm,
- a dimple or puckering of breast skin,
- breast dimples resembling an orange peel (termed peau d'orange),
- a nipple turned inward, and
- skin changes that are scaly, red, and/or swollen anywhere on the breast.
The exact cause of breast cancers in children not understood, but such cancers are associated with prior cancers that may spread to the breast (leukemias, lymphomas, soft tissue sarcoma, rhabdosarcoma, for example) and radiation therapy to the breast or chest for other cancer problems like Hodgkin lymphoma.
What Are the Treatments for Breast Cancer in Children?
After the breast lesion is diagnosed (cancer or benign fibroadenoma), the following types of treatment options that may be used in children with breast cancer or benign fibroadenomas may include the following:
- Watchful waiting: monitoring without medication (for example, done with benign fibroadenomas)
- Chemotherapy: stops growth or kills many types of tumor cells
- Surgery: surgical removal of tumor
- Radiation therapy: external (beams of X-rays or protons) or implantable radioactive compounds to stop growth or kill many types of tumors
- Targeted therapy: drugs and/or other compounds that attack specific cancer cells
In addition, other treatments are being researched in clinical trials; inclusion of your child in a clinical trial may be suggested by your child's medical team. Ask the team members to explain the clinical trial if they recommend that your child joins.
Breast Cancer : Symptoms & Signs Quiz
QuestionA lump in the breast is almost always cancer.
See AnswerMust Read Articles:
-
BRCA Genes: What Is Your Risk as a Carrier of 'the Breast Cancer Gene?'
BRCA1 and BRCA2 are gene mutations that can show whether a woman is at risk of developing breast cancer. -
Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer in women. Symptoms and signs of breast cancer include breast lumps, nipple discharge or inversion, or changes in the breast's skin. Treatment typically involves some type of surgery and depends upon the staging of the cancer, the tumor type, and the person's health. -
Breast Cancer Diagnosis: Screening, Detection, and Testing
Breast cancer diagnosis includes screening methods, such as mammograms, clinical breast exams, MRIs, and breast self-exams, tissue biopsy, and specialized testing to look for tumor markers. -
Breast Cancer Survival Rates, Prognosis, and Statistics
When you catch it early, breast cancer can be treated effectively in many cases. Depending on the stage of the cancer, the five-year survival rate can range from 100 percent to 22 percent if the cancer is detected at stage IV. -
Breast Cancer Treatment and Staging
Breast cancer is staged 0 through IV, with IV being the most severe. Treatment is based on the individual woman and how her cancer responds. Therapies include chemotherapy, radiation, hormonal therapy and surgery. -
Can a Little Girl Have Breast Cancer?
Children can get breast cancer, though it is rare. Children and teens who develop breast cancer usually have hereditary markers, have some other cancer that has metastasized to the breast tissue or have a history of prior cancer treatment with radiation. -
Financial Toxicity (Financial Distress and Cancer Care)
Financial toxicity, also referred to as financial distress, describes problems that people with cancer have in regard to the cost of their cancer treatment. People with cancer have more financial distress than those without cancer. Various things and risk factors for financial toxicity include the type, severity, and treatment received; age; low income; and type of health insurance. The effects of financial distress has on cancer patients include living a lower quality of life; not taking medications as prescribed to save money; and being in debt or having to file for bankruptcy. Financial distress or toxicity can be reduced with use of a financial navigator, knowing hospital and treatment prices, and reforming health insurance to improve financial toxicity of people with cancer. -
What Is Immunotherapeutic Targeting in Children?
Immunotherapy may be a type of treatment that could be integrated into an overall treatment plan to help eradicate certain cancers, especially in children. Cancer treatments for children usually involve chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation therapy that may be extremely toxic and do not provide cures. Immunotherapeutic targeting treatments for cancer may be used along with conventional therapies or on their own.
REFERENCE:
Kasper, D.L., et al., eds. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 19th Ed. United States: McGraw-Hill Education, 2015.