October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or fight like hell. ~Lance Armstrong

There is good news--breast cancer is not the killer it used to be.

This does not mean that the fight is over--in fact, far from it. Over 40,000 women will lose their fight to breast cancer this year. Putting that into perspective, 110 women will die each day--or 4 each hour--from some form of this cancer. Men aren't immune from this type of ailment, either, as over 2,000 male breast cancer patients will be diagnosed this year alone.

In order to fight it, you must know it. Here some brief, essential facts on breast cancer:

There are two main categories of breast cancer--non-invasive and invasive. Non-invasive are confined to the ducts and lobules of the breast, while invasive spreads throughout the tissue of the breast and is thus much more dangerous. The two types of non-invasive breast cancer are ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS). There are many types of invasive breast cancer (many are not known), but the most common is invasive ductal carcinoma, which accounts for 80% of all cases.

The following are the stages of cancer:

Stage 0 - Stage 0 is carcinoma in situ, early stage cancer that is confined to the ducts or the lobules, depending on where it started. It has not gone into the tissues in the breast nor spread to other organs in the body.

Stage I - Stage I is an early stage of invasive breast cancer. In Stage I, cancer cells have not spread beyond the breast and the tumor is no more than 2 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch) across.

Stage II - Stage II is one of the following:

• The tumor in the breast is no more than 2 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch) across. The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.
• The tumor is between 2 and 5 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch to 2 inches). The cancer may have spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.
• The tumor is larger than 5 centimeters (2 inches). The cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.

Stage III - Stage III may be a large tumor, but the cancer has not spread beyond the breast and nearby lymph nodes. It is locally advanced cancer.

Stage IV - Stage IV is distant metastatic cancer. The cancer has spread to other parts of the body.

Recurrent cancer - Recurrent cancer is cancer that has come back (recurred) after a period of time when it could not be detected. It may recur locally in the breast or chest wall as another primary cancer, or it may recur in any other part of the body, such as the bone, liver, or lungs, which is generally referred to as metastatic cancer.

The best way to fight it? Find it early. Women should check themselves at least once a month for lumps or abnormalities and receive regular mammograms to halt the spread of cancer early. The earlier breast cancer is detected, the more likely you will be to beat this disease.

All information on this post was derived from http://www.nbcam.org/disease_breast_cancer.cfm.

Keep all those who have lost their lives to this disease in your thoughts and prayers this month. Check your calendar and support local breast cancer awareness drives near you. You never know whose mother, sister, or daughter is depending on you.