Cancer AND Women's AND Men's Health Essays Example

Breast cancer in women

Introduction
Breast cancer is a common malignant disease in women. 6.6% of cases are diagnosed in young women who are below the age of 40 (American Cancer Society, 2015). Modifiable risk factors associate with breast cancer show that low body mass index, high animal fat diet consumption and long term use of oral contraceptives increase the risk of premenopausal breast cancer. Obesity and decreased physical activity increase the risks of postmenopausal breast cancer. Non-modifiable risks factors like genetic mutations and family history increase risk of premenopausal breast cancer. The breast cancer in young women is a big challenge to families, health care providers and patients. The diagnosis of breast cancer in young women is less common compared to that of the old women above the age of 40 and it can present itself later in a more aggressive manner (Rick et al., 2013). Research shows that there are more cases of breast cancer in young women in relation to that of old women of above age of 40. The trends of breast cancer cases vary among areas of the world and populations. There are more 77% of breast cancer cases occurring in the developing world. The annual rates of cancer show that the highest rate is recorded in North America and Europe while the lowest rates come from Southern and Eastern Africa. Most developing countries do not have the sufficient data and statistics on cancer rate unlike the developed countries. Developed countries are able to access to up-to-date, precise and accurate data which enable them to take proactive measures against the disease.

Risks factors

Genetic mutations
BRCA mutations being a set of genetic and molecular characteristics of breast carcinomas have been postulated to be high in young women than the older counterparts. For example in Britain, breast cancer patients with BRCA2 or BRCA1 mutations is more in women with less than 36 years relatively to the whole breast cancer population group. The preventive measures against the disease such as maintaining of healthy weight, being physically active, breastfeeding and drinking less alcohol may not be so much fruitful against genetics risk factor (Rick et al., 2013).

Gender-Female hormone exposure

The use of oral contraceptive increases the risk of breast cancer to those who are continuing using and to those who have stopped using in less than 10 years. The risk of breast cancer increases too with an increasing age at first full term pregnancy. Breast-feeding for every 12 months decreased the risk by 4.3% in both postmenopausal and premenopausal women (Rick et al., 2013). The preventive measure such as use of alternative contraceptives and withdrawal from oral contraceptives is very effective in reducing this risk associated with breast cancer.

Treatment of the breast cancer

Treatment may involve both surgery and medications. Surgery is the process of physically removing the tumor along with some surrounding tissue. The standard surgeries can be inform of removal of the whole breast (mastectomy), removal of one quarter of the breast (quadrantectomy) and removal of a small part of the breast (lumpectomy). Drugs are also administered after surgery inform of what is refer as adjuvant therapy (Peterson et al., 2013). Neoadjuvant therapy is a type of therapy given before surgery. The other medication can be informed of hormone blocking therapy where tamoxifen drugs are given to block the receptors in cases of estrogen receptors cancers. Tamoxifen drugs are very effective to premenopausal patients. Aromatase inhibitors are effectives for post-menopausal patients.

Prostate cancer

Introduction
Prostate cancer is second leading cause of deaths among men in the United State after the lung cancer. It is the leading non-skin cancer among men worldwide. The screening is the best intervention to curb the prostate cancer in the early stages. Screening with intent to cure the prostate cancer will help to decrease specific mortality. It is one of the common cancer affecting men in the USA. Age and genetics contribute to the development of prostate cancer (American Cancer Society, 2015). The prostate cancer develops slowly and it may not show any signs for many years. Symptoms will only be seen when prostate has become large enough to affect the urethra. The treatments of prostate cancer include watchful waiting, radiation, chemotherapy, surgery, bisphosphonate therapy, hormone therapy and biological therapy.
Risks factors
The primary factors of prostate cancer are age, obesity and family history. Men with high blood pressure have high risk of developing prostate cancer.

Genetics

The genetic history of the family can contribute to the development of prostate cancer risk. Men whose father or brother has a prostate cancer are twice more risk to develop prostate cancer compare to men with no family history (Ewing et al., 2012). Prostate cancer affects more black men than white or Hispanic men in the United States. In contrast, prostate cancer affect one third more non-Hispanic whites than Hispanic. The genes which have been seen to be linked to prostate cancer are androgen receptor, vitamin D receptor and hereditary prostate cancer gene 1. The single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have also been found to link with the risk of prostate cancer. Individual with TT allele pair at SNP has been found to be 1.6 times higher risk prostate cancer than people with CC allele pair. This account why prostate cancer risk in African American is higher compared to American men of European origin. The knowledge of SNPs is very effective in putting up measures to prevent the risks of prostate cancer.

Dietary

Some dietary factors have been seen to contribute to high risk of prostate cancer. Frequent and high consumption of meat is associated with higher risk of prostate cancer. Processed meat and red meat have little effect on risk of the disease. Deficiency of vitamin D and low blood levels have been found to increase the risk of developing prostate cancer (American Cancer Society, 2015).

Treatments

Arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase plays an important role in survival of prostate cancer cells. Arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase inhibitors give out rapid and massive programmed cell death in prostate cancer cells. It is also effective therapy in minimizing tumor growth and cancer metastasis (Peterson et al., 2013). The U.S Preventives Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommend for routine screening mammograms, x-rays to be given to apparently healthy women and at easily treatable stage. For the case of prostate cancer, USPSTF recommended against prostate-specific antigen based screening for the condition.

References

American Cancer Society. (2015). What are the risk factors for breast cancer? Retrieved from http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/detailedguide/breast-cancer-risk-factors
American Cancer Society. (2015). What are the risk factors for prostate cancer? Retrieved from http://www.cancer.org/cancer/prostatecancer/detailedguide/prostate-cancer-risk-factors
Arcangelo, V. P., & Peterson, A. M. (Eds.). (2013). Pharmacotherapeutics for advanced practice: A practical approach (3rd ed.). Ambler, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Ewing, C. M., Ray, A. M., Lange, E. M., Zuhlke, K. A., Robbins, C. M., Tembe, W. D., & Cooney, K. A. (2012). Germline mutations in HOXB13 and prostate-cancer risk. New England Journal of Medicine, 366(2), 141-149.
Rick Alteri, Cammie Barnes, et al. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@research/documents/document/acspc-042725.pdf