Early-stage breast cancer: Dermatologist guides through timely detection
For checking lumps, one technique to try at home is to raise both hands while taking a bath and check for any lumps not only around the breast but also in the axilla. And these are if this breast, if these lumps are painful, because there can be fibroid tissue also in the breast.
New Delhi: Breast cancer, from a dermatologist's point of view, there is a condition known as Paget disease of the breast, which involves the nipple, and it's the early sign and stage where this nipple can have a rash that resembles eczema, very much like eczema. It can present with discharge or papules, and they can easily be misdiagnosed because they resemble eczema. But what happens in Paget, it normally affects one side of the breast and one side of the nipple.
Dr Soma Sarkar, MBBS, MD, Dermatology, Co-Founder and Lead Dermatologist of Skin Beyond Border (SkinBB), said, "When such things are visible, in an ideal scenario is to rule out the skin by doing a biopsy and probably also getting a mammography done. Mammography in India ideally is done at the age of 40 and is recommended at least once every five years. But if there is a family history of cervical cancer or breast cancer within the female bloodline, then mammography has to be done once in two years and start from the age of 35."
For checking lumps, one technique to try at home is to raise both hands while taking a bath and check for any lumps not only around the breast but also in the axilla. And these are if this breast, if these lumps are painful, because there can be fibroid tissue also in the breast. There has to be an understanding of the difference between a benign fibroid and an invasive cancer here. Self-examination is very important in detecting.
Women around us have to be educated, talk about nipple health, discuss the skin around the breast, and explain how the nipple should look. Most of the time, in some carcinomas, the nipples are inverted, underdeveloped, or discharge excessively. There are multiple episodes of yellowish and painful discharges, with aggravation occurring at short intervals. So, these things have to be kept in mind for ruling out breast cancer or getting diagnosed early.
Also, certain blood tests can be administered if there is a family history of breast cancer, known as BRCA 1 and 2, where the genes are checked for probability, and the propensity of breast cancer is there. Educating women around us at a particular age to know how to self-examine is important. Self-examination is the best and simplest way to proceed, and then it is also advisable to consult with relevant experts, such as your gynecologist or dermatologist, to gain clarity on the condition.
Dr. Kalpana Apte, Director General, FPAI, said, "The treatment of breast cancer is multimodal. For early-stage breast cancer, the standard treatment is Breast-conserving surgery (BCS) with whole-breast radiotherapy, provided the tumour can be resected with acceptable cosmetic appearance and negative margins. Additionally, Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is preferred for clinically node-negative early breast cancer. For low-risk node-negative endocrine therapy alone is recommended, whereas for high-risk cases, adjuvant chemotherapy is recommended."