breast cancer essay introduction

Breast Cancer - Free Essay Examples And Topic Ideas

Breast cancer is a type of cancer that develops from breast tissue. Essays on this topic could explore the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of breast cancer. Additionally, discussions might delve into the psychological and social impact of breast cancer on patients and their families, the ongoing research towards finding a cure, and the broader societal awareness and support systems available for those affected. We have collected a large number of free essay examples about Breast Cancer you can find at Papersowl. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

Micro Needle Thermocouple for Detection of Breast Cancer

Hundreds and thousands of people are affected by cancer each year; it is one of the most fatal diseases and a leading cause of death and disability for humans (Iranifam 2014). There are several types of cancer than can affect different areas of the body, some being less life-threatening than others. A vast amount of patients suffer from late diagnosis or recurrence of their disease in spite of all the advances in diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Modern cancer […]

The Role of Histology in the Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is an uncontrolled growth of breast cell that can be benign, not dangerous, but it can also metastasize and invade different and distant tissues in our body. Breast Cancer is the most common cancer in female of any age and although the risk increases, as you get older, many different factors affect the chance of a woman to get breast cancer. I chose this specific topic because breast cancer is something that I’ve dealt with in my personal […]

Corporate Social Responsibility against Cancer

Abstract As an assistant manager at Kenta Law Firm, based in Monroe, I intend to collaborate with the Susan B. Komen Foundation a non-organization corporation that is interested in reducing issues of breast cancer among women. Kenta law firm has noted that a significant populace of Monroe’s youth especially women and young children specifically those who are homeless are suffering from breast cancer. In this CSR partnership, our law firm will collaborate with the Susan B. Komen Foundation in addressing […]

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Why is Screening for Breast Cancer Important

The impact this disease has, on not only the individual but the people around them, is powerful. Even though the tests show cancer, I am thankful that I had the annual test. It is true that stress, anxiety, and money can be saved by waiting until the age of 50 years old because of misinterpretation and overdiagnosis. However, early detection is the key to success in the battle against breast cancer. There are many different options for detection scans that […]

Breast Cancer: Casuses and Treatment

Cancer is defined as “when the body’s cells begin to divide without stopping and spread into surrounding tissues.” (“What is cancer?”, 2017), caused by mutations that lead to the cell cycle to proceed, regardless if the cell is qualified to. The mutations block the use of the G1, G2, and M checkpoints in the cell cycle. These checkpoints are important in “sensing defects that occur during essential processes, and induce a cell cycle arrest in response until the defects are […]

Breast Reconstruction after Mastectomy

Breast cancer is always personal. As a physician who counsels women at different steps during the healing process, I am acutely aware of this undeniable fact. Every decision she makes from the point at which she is diagnosed with breast cancer will require her focused engagement and a physician who is central to understanding her need for clarity of options. It is an intimate relationship where trust is a requirement and every woman faced with the many unknowns ahead will […]

Breast Cancer History Research Paper

Breast cancer is a disease in which most commonly occurs in all women no matter their size, shape, race, or ethnicity. About one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer every year, a fatal disease if not discovered early. Early detection of breast cancer is key so that cancerous cells found in the breast do not spread through other parts of the body. With an increasing prevalence in breast cancer today, the evolution of technology has been improved […]

New Healthcare Inventions on Breast Cancer

Abstract Background: The Ki67 labeling index (LI) for breast carcinoma is essential for therapy. It is determined by visual assessment under a microscope which is subjective, thus has limitations due to inter-observer variability. A standardized method for evaluating Ki67 LI is necessary to reduce subjectivity and improve precision. Therefore, automated Digital Image Analysis (DIA) has been attempted as a potential method for evaluating the Ki67 index. Materials and Method: We included 48 cases of invasive breast carcinoma in this study. […]

Understanding Breast Cancer

This paper will clarify what Breast Cancer is. It will explain the symptoms, treatment options, and other useful information regarding this disease. The first thing to know about Breast Cancer is understanding what it is. According to the Cancer.org website, breast cancer begins when cells in the bosom begin to spread out of control. The tumor that is formed from these cells may be detected on an x-ray or can be felt as a lump. Malignancy can advance into neighboring […]

Breast Cancer in African American Women

Summary Despite the fact that Caucasian women in the United States have a higher incidence rate of breast cancer than any other racial group, African-Americans succumb notably worse to the disease and record the highest mortality rate. To comprehend the barriers and challenges that predispose African-American women to these disparities, this research was conducted to get a better understanding from the perspective of oncologists. With diverse ethnicity and gender representation, the participation of seven medical, surgical and radiation oncologists that […]

Essential Breast Cancer Screening Techniques and their Complements

It is with great distress that each year a large number of females suffer and die from breast cancer. Medicine practitioners and researchers have been striving to save lives from breast cancer, and how they manage to do this includes two major parts—diagnosis and treatment. What comes first on the stage of diagnosis is the detection of tumor. Thus, the development of breast imaging techniques is at the highest priority for diagnosing breast cancer, and individuals’ focus is on earlier […]

Breast Cancer Prevention and Treatment

The human body is made up of cells. When a cell dies the body automatically replaces it with a new healthy cell, but sometimes the cell is not healthy and grows out of control. These cells group together and form a lump that can be seen on an x-ray. Breast cancer is a tumor in the cells of person’s breast. It can spread throughout the breast to the person’s lymph nodes and other parts of the body. Sometimes it occurs […]

Breast Cancer Diagnosis

I. Executive Summary Breast cancer is concerning a large number of female individuals worldwide. This disease comes from abnormally developed breast tissue, which usually begins in either lobules or ducts of the breast. Generally speaking, breast cancer is divided into two types—non-invasive and invasive. The core criteria to distinguish in between these two types of breast cancers is the location of cancer cells. Cancer cells remain on their initial positions for a non-invasive breast cancer, whereas they grow, or “invade”, […]

Understanding a Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Breast cancer is often known as an aggressive cancer. It forms when cells grow uncontrollably in the tissues of the breast, leading to a tumor. Over 190,000 individuals are diagnosed yearly (Cancer Center). Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death, and the rate increases every year in women, and occasionally in men. Over 12 percent of women in the United States of America will face breast cancer in their lifetime. It is the most common cause of death […]

Breast Cancer in the Era of Precision Medicine

Introduction: Precision medicine is concerned with the diagnosis of patients according to their biological, genetic, and molecular status. As cancer is a genetic disease, its treatment comes among the first medical disciplines as an application of precision medicine. Breast cancer is a highly complex, heterogeneous, and multifactorial disease; it is also one of the most common diseases among women in the world. Usually, there are no clear symptoms, so regular screening is important for early detection. Scientists recently started using […]

Exome Sequencing to Identify Rare Mutations Associated with Breast Cancer Susceptibility

Abstract Background - Breast cancer predisposition has been known to be caused by hereditary factors. New techniques particularly exome sequencing have allowed/ helped us to identify new and novel variants that exhibit a phenotype. Method - In this review we discuss the advantages of exome sequencing and how it could help in understanding the familial breast cancer. In particular, we will discuss about the studies by Noh et al.(1), Thompson et al.(2), and Kiiski et al.(3), on how they have […]

A Novel Therapeutic Strategy for HER2 Breast Cancer by Nanoparticles Combined with Macrophages

Abstract:In recent years, the cell membrane bionic nanoparticles as a new drug delivery system is widely used in small molecule drugs, vaccines and targeted delivery of macromolecular drugs, because of its inherited the specific receptors on the cell membrane and membrane proteins can be used to implement specific targeted delivery, and the tumor showed a good treatment effect on the disease such as model, this topic with a huge bite cell membrane of the role of tumor capture, chemical modification, […]

Essays About Breast Cancer Breast Cancer is one of the most common cancers in women and is a disease by which the cells in the breast area grow out of control. Breast cancer tends to begin in the ducts or lobules of a breast and there are different types of cancer. In the US alone 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer at some stage in their lives. In many academic fields; from science to medicine the study of breast cancer and essays about breast cancer are required as part of the curriculum. An essay on breast cancer can seem daunting due to the amount of research and several varying scientific approaches used to talk about the topic. We offer essay examples, or research paper guidance and free essay samples.  These can be used to gauge how to approach the topic and are an informative look at all factors that contribute to breast cancer and prevention. We also factor breast cancer awareness into our essay samples and ensure essays for both university and college build a strong foundation to understanding the disease, but also draw criticism when necessary and a strong conclusion on whatever element of breast cancer the focus of the essay is on.

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Health Encyclopedia

Breast cancer: introduction, what is cancer.

Cancer starts when cells in the body change (mutate) and grow out of control. Your body is made up of tiny building blocks called cells. Normal cells grow when your body needs them, and die when your body doesn't need them any longer. Cancer is made up of abnormal cells that grow even though your body doesn’t need them. In most types of cancer, the abnormal cells grow to form a lump or mass called a tumor.

Understanding the breast

The breast is made up of lobules and ducts. The lobules are the glands that can make milk. The ducts are thin tubes that carry the milk from the lobules to the nipple. The breast is also made of fat, connective tissue, lymph nodes, and blood vessels.

What is breast cancer?

Breast cancer is cancer that starts in cells in the breast. The ducts and the lobules are the two parts of the breast where cancer is most likely to start. 

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in the U.S. Healthcare providers don't yet know exactly what causes it. Once breast cancer forms, cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body (metastasize), making it life-threatening. The good news is that breast cancer is often found early, when it's small and before it has spread.

There are many types of breast cancer. These are the most common types:

Ductal carcinoma. This is the most common type. It starts in the lining of the milk ducts. When breast cancer has not spread outside of the ducts, it's called ductal carcinoma in situ or intraductal carcinoma. This is the most common type of noninvasive breast cancer. Invasive ductal carcinoma is breast cancer that has spread beyond the walls of the breast ducts. It's the most common type of invasive breast cancer.

Invasive lobular carcinoma. This type starts in the milk-producing glands (lobules) and spreads outside the lobules.

Names of specific breast cancer types refer to whether they have spread or not:

Noninvasive (in situ) cancer is only in the ducts. It hasn’t spread to nearby areas. If not treated, it can grow over time into a more serious, invasive type of cancer. If you are diagnosed with noninvasive ductal carcinoma, your chances of surviving are very high if you don’t wait to treat it.

Invasive (infiltrating) cancer has the potential to spread to nearby areas. This type is much more serious than noninvasive cancer. When it starts to spread, it often invades nearby lymph nodes first. It can then spread to other parts of your body through your bloodstream and lymphatic system. Treatment for invasive cancer is often a more difficult, long-term process.

These are a few types of invasive breast cancers that you may hear about:

Inflammatory breast cancer. This is a rare form of invasive breast cancer. Often there is no lump or tumor. Instead, this cancer makes the skin of the breast look red and feel warm. The breast skin also looks thick and pitted, like an orange peel. It tends to be found in younger people and grows and spreads quickly.

Triple negative breast cancer. This is a type of breast cancer that doesn’t have estrogen receptors and progesterone receptors. It also doesn’t have an excess of the HER2 protein on the cancer cell surfaces. This type of breast cancer is most often found in younger people and in African-American people. It tends to grow and spread faster than most other types of breast cancer. Because these cancer cells don't have hormone receptors or excess HER2, medicines that target these changes don't work. The most common kind is triple-negative invasive ductal carcinoma.

Less common types of breast cancer include:

Paget disease.  This is a very rare form of breast cancer that starts in the glands in the skin of the nipple. It grows slowly and occurs in only one nipple. Most people with Paget disease also have tumors in the same breast. This type causes symptoms that are like a skin infection. They include inflammation, redness, oozing, crusting, itching, and burning.

Angiosarcoma. This starts in the cells that line the blood vessels or lymph vessels. It may involve the breast tissue or the breast skin.

How breast cancer spreads

Breast cancer can spread by growing into nearby tissues in the breast. It can also spread when the cancer cells get into and travel through the blood or lymph systems. When this happens, cancer cells may be found in nearby lymph nodes, such as in the armpit. These lymph nodes are called axillary lymph nodes. They are often checked for cancer as part of the diagnosis process. If the cancer reaches these nodes, it may have spread to other parts of the body.

Breast cancer that has spread from the breast to other organs of the body is called metastatic breast cancer. When breast cancer spreads, it most often goes to the brain, bones, liver, or lungs.

A key factor in making a breast cancer diagnosis is finding out if it has spread.

Talking with your healthcare provider

If you have questions about breast cancer, talk with your healthcare provider. Your healthcare provider can help you understand more about this cancer.

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Breast Cancer and the Environment: A Life Course Approach (2012)

Chapter: 1 introduction.

1 Introduction

T he prospect of developing breast cancer is a source of anxiety for many women. Breast cancer remains the most common invasive cancer among women (aside from nonmelanoma skin cancers), accounting in 2011 for an estimated 230,480 new cases among women in the United States and another 2,140 new cases among men (ACS, 2011). After lung cancer, it is the second most common cause of mortality from cancer for women, with about 39,520 deaths expected in the United States in 2011. Another 450 breast cancer deaths are expected among men in 2011 (ACS, 2011). Since the mid-1970s, when the National Cancer Institute (NCI) began compiling continuous cancer statistics, the annual incidence of invasive breast cancer rose from 105 cases per 100,000 women to 142 per 100,000 women in 1999 (NCI, 2011). Since then, however, the incidence has declined. In 2008, the incidence of breast cancer was 129 cases per 100,000 women.

Further reduction of the incidence of breast cancer is a high priority, but finding ways to achieve this is a challenge. As in most types of adult cancer, breast cancer is thought to develop as a result of accumulated damage induced by both internal and external triggers resulting in initial carcinogenic events. The affected cells and tissues then progress through multiple stages, with accompanying alterations in the surrounding tissue likely playing a role in whether the damage leads to a cancer. These events contributing to subsequent cancers may occur spontaneously as a by-product of errors in normal processes, such as DNA replication, or potentially through effects of environmental exposures. The early procarcinogenic events from endogenous and exogenous processes may be sustained and

furthered by physiologic conditions such as obesity. It is likely that many such procarcinogenic events may never be entirely preventable because, although potentially modifiable, they are consequences of basic biologic processes, such as oxidative damage to DNA from endogenous metabolism, or stimulation of cell growth through normal hormonal processes. 1 Although such biological “background” mutagenesis is unavoidable, highly efficient protective pathways, such as DNA repair and immune surveillance, are effective at reducing the impacts of procarcinongenic events (Loeb and Nishimura, 2010; Bissell and Hines, 2011).

Although more needs to be learned about both the mechanisms by which breast cancers arise and the array of factors that influence risk for them, much has been established. Among the factors generally accepted as increasing women’s risk are older age, having a first child at an older age or never having a child, exposure to ionizing radiation, and use of certain forms of postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT). Inherited mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes also markedly increase risk for breast cancer (and other cancers as well), but these mutations are rare in the general population and account for only 5 to 10 percent of cases (ACS, 2011).

Even though aging, genetics, and patterns of childbearing account for some of the risk for breast cancer, they are not promising targets for preventive measures. More helpful would be identifying modifiable risk factors. For example, the publication of findings from the Women’s Health Initiative (Writing Group for the Women’s Health Initiative Investigators, 2002) confirming earlier indications that estrogen–progestin HT was contributing to an increase in the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer was followed by a rapid reduction in use of HT and in the incidence of invasive breast cancer. As reflected in NCI data, the incidence in 2002 was 136 cases per 100,000 women, compared with 127 in 2003 (NCI, 2011). A portion of the decline in breast cancer incidence since 1999 is attributed to this reduced use of HT (e.g., Ravdin et al., 2007; Farhat et al., 2010). But there are long-standing and still unresolved concerns that aspects of diet, ambient chemicals, or other potentially modifiable environmental exposures may be contributing to high rates of breast cancer.

At present, a large but incomplete body of evidence is available on the relationship between breast cancer and the wide variety of external factors that can be said to comprise the environment. Information on interactions between genetic susceptibility and environmental factors is particularly sparse. In contrast, knowledge of the complexity of breast cancer is growing, with the characterization of multiple tumor subtypes; the possibility

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1 Loeb and Nishimura (2010, p. 4270) note that each normal cell in a person’s body may be exposed to as many as 50,000 DNA-damaging events each day, and that oxygen free radicals are a major source of DNA damage.

that critical events in the origins of breast cancer can occur very early in life; the variety of pathways through which breast cancer risks may be shaped; and the potential significance of both the timing of exposures and the way combinations of factors determine the effect on risks for different types of breast cancer. This growing knowledge has stimulated a transition in breast cancer research. The new perspectives on breast cancer highlight the limitations of the current understanding of the disease, and innovative ideas are beginning to influence the design and analysis of epidemiologic studies, experimental studies in animals, and mechanistic studies of breast cancer biology, all directed toward elucidating how external factors may influence the etiology of breast cancer.

This report presents the results of a study commissioned to review the current evidence on environmental risk factors for breast cancer, consider gene–environment interactions in breast cancer, explore evidence-based actions that might reduce the risk of breast cancer, and recommend research in these areas.

STUDY CHARGE AND COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES

This study resulted from a request to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) by Susan G. Komen for the Cure and its Scientific Advisory Board. Komen for the Cure funds research on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer, and also provides educational information and support services for the public and health care providers. The Statement of Task for the IOM study appears in Box 1-1 .

The members of the study committee were selected to contribute expertise in epidemiology, toxicology, risk assessment, biostatistics, molecular carcinogenesis, gene–environment interactions, communication of health messages, environmental health science, exposure assessment, and health care. The committee includes a member from the patient advocacy community.

The committee met in person five times from April 2010 through February 2011 and conducted additional deliberations by conference call. During these meetings and calls, the committee reviewed and discussed the existing research literature on the topics central to its charge and developed and revised this report. At three of its meetings, the committee held public sessions during which it heard presentations by researchers, representatives of advocacy organizations, and members of the public.

The committee also commissioned work on two topics. One project was a review of data available to assess temporal changes in the potential for exposure to a selected set of chemicals and other environmental agents. The agents included in this paper have been discussed in the research literature and the popular press as possible contributors to increased risk for

BOX 1-1 Study Charge

In response to a request from Susan G. Komen for the Cure ® , the Institute of Medicine will assemble a committee to:

1. Review the evidentiary standards for identifying and measuring cancer risk factors;

2. Review and assess the strength of the science base regarding the relationship between breast cancer and the environment;

3. Consider the potential interaction between genetic and environmental risk factors;

4. Consider potential evidence-based actions that women could take to reduce their risk of breast cancer;

5. Review the methodological challenges involved in conducting research on breast cancer and the environment; and

6. Develop recommendations for future research in this area.

In addition to reviewing the published literature, the committee will seek input from stakeholders, in part by organizing and conducting a public workshop to examine issues related to the current status of evidentiary standards and the science base, research methods, and promising areas of research. The workshop will focus on the challenges involved in the design, conduct, and interpretation of research on breast cancer and the environment. The committee will generate a technical report with conclusions and recommendations, as well as a summary report for the lay public.

breast cancer. This work served as an information resource for the committee and helped to identify some data presented in Chapter 4 . The other project resulted in a paper examining temporal changes in the United States in exposure to ionizing radiation, with a particular focus on exposure from medical imaging (see Appendix F , available electronically at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13263 ).

APPROACH TO THE STUDY

The committee began its work with recognition of the potentially vast scope of the study task and the need to develop a perspective and approach that could lead to a useful and timely report. The committee sought to focus its attention in areas that it considered to be the most significant and the most pertinent to the charge placed before it.

For purposes of this report, the committee interpreted “environment” broadly, to encompass all factors that are not directly inherited through

DNA. As a result, this definition includes elements that range from the cellular to the societal: the physiologic and developmental course of an individual, diet and other ingested substances, physical activity, microbial agents, physical and chemical agents encountered at home or at work, medical treatments and interventions, social factors, and cultural practices. This perspective was a foundation for the committee’s work; application of it in its broadest sense is something that the committee hopes will expand the scope of future research. For some readers, this interpretation will differ from their association of the phrase “environmental risk factors” primarily with pollutants and other products of industrial processes (Baralt and McCormick, 2010). Furthermore, throughout the report the term “breast cancer” is used to refer to disease in humans and “mammary cancer” or “mammary tumor” to refer to disease in animals.

The committee explored the available evidence concerning breast cancer risks associated with a varied but limited collection of specific substances and factors ( Chapter 3 ), and it also reviewed the many challenges that researchers have had to contend with in studying breast cancer, including those pertaining to gene–environment interactions ( Chapter 4 ). But in its examination of the relation between breast cancer and the environment, the committee chose to highlight an approach that emphasizes the biologic mechanisms through which environmental factors may be operating and the importance of the changing picture over the life course ( Chapter 5 ). This perspective played a major role in shaping the committee’s conclusions and recommendations.

A Life Course Perspective

Breast cancer is primarily (but far from exclusively) a disease of adult women who are approaching or have reached menopause. In 2009, approximately 90 percent of new cases in U.S. women were diagnosed at age 45 or older (ACS, 2009). But the breast undergoes substantial changes from the time it begins developing in the fetus through old age, especially in response to hormonal changes during puberty, pregnancy, lactation, and menopause. With the timing of these developmental events related to risk for some types of breast cancer, there has been growing interest in exploring whether the timing of a variety of environmental exposures also is important in understanding what influences breast cancer risks. In Chapter 5 , the committee has sought to link its examination of the mechanisms of carcinogenesis with a life course perspective on when and how those pathologic pathways may be particularly relevant in relation to when and how environmental exposures occur. Attention was paid to growing evidence for critical windows of susceptibility (e.g., periods with rapid cell proliferation or maturation)

when specific mechanisms that increase the likelihood of a breast cancer developing may be more likely to be activated.

Identifying Environmental Risks for Breast Cancer

Trying to determine which environmental exposures may be influencing rates of breast cancer poses substantial challenges, many of which are discussed in Chapter 4 . Cancer is a complex disease, and its “causes” are generally harder to trace than the bacteria and viruses that cause infectious diseases. People who are never exposed to the measles virus will never get measles. But the impact of removing a particular environmental exposure associated with breast cancer is less clear because many other factors can still contribute to the development of breast cancer. The role of underlying susceptibility from inherited genes appears to involve both rare variants and common ones, but it is still not well characterized. Moreover, people are exposed to a complex and changing mix of environmental agents over the course of a lifetime, so discerning the effects of an individual agent, or knowing which components of the mixture may influence the development of disease or how the mixture’s components may interact with each other or with genes, is not straightforward.

Observational epidemiologic studies are a critical tool for learning about elevated risks, but they can be difficult to do well. They typically are the basis for demonstrating correlations between risk factors and outcomes, but establishing a causal inference is much more difficult. The challenges in establishing causality in such studies include difficulties with exposure measurement and accounting for undetected or poorly measured differences that may exist between the groups designated as exposed and unexposed. Furthermore, the timing and duration of observational studies may affect whether sufficient time has elapsed to detect differences in the incidence of a cancer that may not appear until many years after an exposure. Randomized controlled trials, which assign participants to a specific exposure or a comparison condition, are easier to interpret. However, for ethical and methodological reasons, such studies are rarely possible, especially when the goal is to determine whether the exposure is associated with an adverse event.

Experimental studies in animal models and in vitro systems offer an important opportunity to study the effects of well-defined exposures and to explore mechanisms of carcinogenicity in ways that are not possible in epidemiologic studies. They can signal potential hazards to human health that cannot be identified in other ways, but their results have to be interpreted with an understanding of differences across species and the comparability of an experimental exposure to the conditions encountered in the human population.

Reviewing Evidence on Specific Risk Factors

The literature on risk factors for cancer in general and breast cancer in particular is large and varied. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP) in the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences have programs to review the evidence on the carcinogenicity of various substances. 2 The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organization, is a focal point for major international collaboration in such reviews. 3 In addition, a collaborative project between the World Cancer Research Fund International and the American Institute for Cancer Research has an ongoing program to review evidence on diet, physical activity, and cancer (WCRF/AICR, 2007). 4 All of these review programs consider evidence concerning breast cancer (or mammary cancers in animal studies) when it is available, but it is not their focus. Reviews specifically concerning breast cancer have also been conducted. These reviews include one conducted by the California Breast Cancer Research Program (2007) and a review sponsored by Komen for the Cure and conducted by the Silent Spring Institute (e.g., Brody et al., 2007; Rudel et al., 2007).

Assembling a comprehensive review of evidence on the relation between a complete set of environmental factors and breast cancer was not feasible for this study. Instead, the committee chose to focus on a limited selection of various types of environmental factors and potential routes of exposure. These factors are discussed in Chapter 3 . The committee’s aim was to characterize the available evidence and identify where substantial areas of uncertainty exist.

Observations About Risk

One component of the committee’s task was to comment on actions that can be taken to reduce the risk of breast cancer. Opportunities for action are discussed in Chapter 6 , but it is important to emphasize from the outset the challenge of interpreting evidence regarding risk and risk reduction. The widely quoted estimate that women in the United States have a 1-in-8 chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetimes

2 Information on the EPA and NTP review programs is available at http://www.epa.gov/ebtpages/pollcarcinogens.html and http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/?objectid=72016262-BDB7-CEBA-FA60E922B18C2540 .

3 Information on IARC reviews is available at http://www.iarc.fr/ and http://monographs.iarc.fr/index.php .

4 Information on the review by the World Cancer Research Fund International and the American Institute for Cancer Research is available at http://www.wcrf.org/cancer_research/expert_report/index.php .

can be restated as approximately a 12 percent lifetime risk of developing invasive breast cancer (NCI, 2010). The risk can also be presented for shorter, more comprehensible intervals. For example, among white women who are 50 years old, 2.4 percent are likely to be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer over the next 10 years (NCI, 2010). This 10-year risk is 2.2 percent for 50-year-old black women, 2.0 percent for Asian women, and 1.7 percent for Hispanic women. For 70-year-olds, the 10-year risks are 3.9 percent for white women, 3.2 percent for black women, and 2.4 percent for both Asian and Hispanic women. Estimates for longer follow-up periods (e.g., 20 or 30 years) will only increase those risks. Within average values such as these, there are always groups of women whose particular characteristics give them a higher or lower 10-year risk.

These estimates of risk are a critical reference point for understanding the implications of findings from epidemiologic studies on factors associated with increased or decreased risk of breast cancer. These findings are typically reported in terms of relative risk, which reflects a comparison between the risk in a population exposed to a particular factor and that in a similar population that is not exposed. Thus, a relative risk of 2.0 (a doubling of risk) might mean that for women with that risk factor, the 10-year risk of breast cancer is 5 percent rather than 2.5 percent. Similarly, a relative risk of 0.5 for a protective factor means that women with that characteristic may have a 10-year risk of 1.3 percent rather than 2.5 percent. These examples are offered to illustrate the scale of the change in risk implied by typical epidemiologic findings; they are not a formal analysis.

From a public health perspective, another important piece of information is the prevalence of the risk factor in the population. Finding that an environmental factor is associated with a large relative risk may still mean that it accounts for few cases of disease if the disease or the exposure is rare in that population. Alternatively, an environmental exposure that is associated with only a small increase in risk may be contributing to a large number of cases if the exposure is very common in the population. However, if the exposure is so common that there is little variability across the population (virtually everyone is exposed), it can be extremely difficult to identify the contribution from that exposure.

Virtually all of the epidemiologic evidence regarding breast cancer risk is drawn from population-level analyses. As a result, the conclusions reached on the basis of that evidence apply to an exposed population . With current knowledge, it is not possible to apply those conclusions to predict which individuals within that population are most likely to develop breast cancer. Nevertheless, an understanding of population-based estimates of risk can help people make personal choices that may lead to better health outcomes.

TOPICS BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Several topics were defined as falling beyond the scope of the study. With the focus on environmental risk factors for breast cancer, the committee chose to devote little attention to the established associations between increased risk for breast cancer and reproductive events such as younger age at menarche, older age at first birth, lack of lactation, and older age at menopause. The committee also chose not to evaluate the established associations between breast cancer risk and higher birth weight and attained stature. Although some of them might fall under the committee’s very broad definition of environmental factors, they were not the focus of its review. Background is provided on many of these other factors in Chapter 2 , and the possibility that some environmental exposures may have an indirect influence on risk for breast cancer because they may affect the timing of these reproductive events is discussed in Chapter 5 .

The committee also agreed that the nature and effectiveness of breast cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment were generally beyond the scope of the study. It noted but did not analyze the impact of increased mammography and changes in screening practices since the 1970s on the observed incidence of breast cancer. The paper commissioned by the committee on medical sources of exposure to ionizing radiation took into account the contribution of mammography. The committee did not examine the appropriateness of screening recommendations or practices.

The committee decided as well that its charge called for a focus on risk for the initial occurrence of breast cancer and not on recurrence or factors that might be associated with the risk of recurrence. Although environmental exposures may well influence the risk of recurrence, that risk is also influenced by characteristics of tumors at the time of diagnosis and subsequent treatment and follow-up practices. Consideration of clinical practice in the treatment of women (and men) with diagnosed breast cancers is substantially different from the study’s primary focus on prevention of breast cancer through improved understanding of and response to environmental risks. Similarly, the committee concluded that its charge called for a focus on the incidence of breast cancer and not mortality. Influences on breast cancer mortality patterns include factors that affect diagnosis and treatment that are separate from the effects of environmental exposures on the incidence of the disease.

The committee did not explicitly assess environmental risk factors for male breast cancer, beyond the general assumption that some of the risk factors identified through studies in women may also be relevant to the development of breast cancer in men.

THE COMMITTEE’S REPORT

This report reviews the current evidence on the biology of breast cancer, examines the challenges of studying environmental risk factors, and presents the committee’s findings and research recommendations from its review of evidence on environmental risk factors. Specifically, Chapter 2 provides important background for evaluating factors influencing breast cancer risk with a brief review of the biology of breast cancer and trends in incidence in the United States, along with discussion of the kinds of studies used to investigate breast cancer and environmental exposures. Chapter 3 presents the committee’s review of evidence on selected environmental risk factors. Chapter 4 discusses the variety of challenges that complicate the study of environmental risk factors for breast cancer, as well as gene–environment interactions. Chapter 5 examines mechanisms of carcinogenesis and links them to a life course perspective on breast development and the potential for environmental factors to influence risk for breast cancer. In Chapter 6 , the committee examines opportunities for evidence-based action to reduce risks for breast cancer and also considers the challenges of avoiding the unintentional introduction of new risks. Chapter 7 concludes the report with the committee’s recommendations for future research efforts. Included as appendixes are agendas for the committee’s public sessions ( Appendix A ), biographical sketches of committee members ( Appendix B ), a summary of weight-of-evidence categories used by major organizations that evaluate cancer risks ( Appendix C ), a table summarizing reports of population attributable risks for breast cancer ( Appendix D ), a glossary ( Appendix E ), and the paper commissioned on exposure to ionizing radiation ( Appendix F ).

ACS (American Cancer Society). 2009. Breast cancer facts and figures 2009–2010 . Atlanta, GA: ACS. http://www.cancer.org/Research/CancerFactsFigures/BreastCancerFactsFigures/index (accessed November 17, 2010).

ACS. 2011. Breast Cancer facts and figures 2011–2012 . Atlanta, GA: ACS. http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@epidemiologysurveilance/documents/document/acspc-030975.pdf (accessed November 15, 2011).

Baralt, L. B., and S. McCormick. 2010. A review of advocate–scientist collaboration in federally funded environmental breast cancer research centers. Environ Health Perspect 118(12):1668–1675.

Bissell, M. J., and W. C. Hines. 2011. Why don’t we get more cancer? A proposed role of the microenvironment in restraining cancer progression. Nat Med 17(3):320–329.

Brody, J. G., K. B. Moysich, O. Humblet, K. R. Attfield, G. P. Beehler, and R. A. Rudel. 2007. Environmental pollutants and breast cancer: Epidemiologic studies. Cancer 109(12 Suppl):2667–2711.

California Breast Cancer Research Program. 2007. Identifying gaps in breast cancer research: Addressing disparities and the roles of the physical and social environment . http://cbcrp.org/sri/reports/identifyingGaps/index.php (accessed October 25, 2011).

Farhat, G. N., R. Walker, D. S. Buist, T. Onega, and K. Kerlikowske. 2010. Changes in invasive breast cancer and ductal carcinoma in situ rates in relation to the decline in hormone therapy use. J Clin Oncol 28(35):5140–5146.

Loeb, L. A., and S. Nishimura. 2010. Princess Takamatsu Symposium on DNA repair and human cancers. Cancer Res 70(11):4269–4273.

NCI (National Cancer Institute). 2010. SEER cancer statistics review, 1975–2007 . Edited by S. F. Altekruse, C. L. Kosary, M. Krapcho, N. Neyman, R. Aminou, W. Waldron, J. Ruhl, N. Howlader, Z. Tatalovich, H. Cho, A. Mariotto, M. P. Eisner, D. R. Lewis, K. Cronin, H. S. Chen, E. J. Feuer, D. G. Stinchcomb, and B. K. Edwards. Bethesda, MD:

NCI. http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2007/ (accessed January 6, 2011).

NCI. 2011. SEER cancer statistics review, 1975–2008. Edited by N. Howlader, A. M. Noone, M. Krapcho, N. Neyman, R. Aminou, W. Waldron, S. F. Altekruse, C. L. Kosary, J. Ruhl, Z. Tatalovich, H. Cho, A. Mariotto, M. P. Eisner, D. R. Lewis, H. S. Chen, E. J. Feuer, K. A. Cronin, and B. K. Edwards. Bethesda, MD: NCI. (Based on November 2010 SEER data submission, posted to the SEER website, 2011.) http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2008/ (accessed June 1, 2011).

Ravdin, P. M., K. A. Cronin, N. Howlader, C. D. Berg, R. T. Chlebowski, E. J. Feuer, B. K. Edwards, and D. A. Berry. 2007. The decrease in breast-cancer incidence in 2003 in the United States. N Engl J Med 356(16):1670–1674.

Rudel, R. A., K. R. Attfield, J. N. Schifano, and J. G. Brody. 2007. Chemicals causing mammary gland tumors in animals signal new directions for epidemiology, chemicals testing, and risk assessment for breast cancer prevention. Cancer 109(12 Suppl):2635–2666.

WCRF/AICR (World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research). 2007. Food, nutrition, physical activity, and the prevention of cancer: A global perspective. Washington, DC: AICR.

Writing Group for the Women’s Health Initiative Investigators. 2002. Risks and benefits of estrogen plus progestin in healthy postmenopausal women: Principal results from the Women’s Health Initiative randomized controlled trial. JAMA 288(3):321–333.

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Breast cancer remains the most common invasive cancer among women. The primary patients of breast cancer are adult women who are approaching or have reached menopause; 90 percent of new cases in U.S. women in 2009 were diagnosed at age 45 or older. Growing knowledge of the complexity of breast cancer stimulated a transition in breast cancer research toward elucidating how external factors may influence the etiology of breast cancer.

Breast Cancer and the Environment reviews the current evidence on a selection of environmental risk factors for breast cancer, considers gene-environment interactions in breast cancer, and explores evidence-based actions that might reduce the risk of breast cancer. The book also recommends further integrative research into the elements of the biology of breast development and carcinogenesis, including the influence of exposure to a variety of environmental factors during potential windows of susceptibility during the full life course, potential interventions to reduce risk, and better tools for assessing the carcinogenicity of environmental factors. For a limited set of risk factors, evidence suggests that action can be taken in ways that may reduce risk for breast cancer for many women: avoiding unnecessary medical radiation throughout life, avoiding the use of some forms of postmenopausal hormone therapy, avoiding smoking, limiting alcohol consumption, increasing physical activity, and minimizing weight gain.

Breast Cancer and the Environment sets a direction and a focus for future research efforts. The book will be of special interest to medical researchers, patient advocacy groups, and public health professionals.

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Introduction to Breast Cancer

Published: April 4, 2016

Description

Welcome to an Introduction to Breast Cancer! In this course, we’ll learn a bit about the leading cause of cancer in women worldwide – from the basic biology of the disease, to risk factors and prevention, to treatment modalities to survivorship. We’ll talk to leading experts, explore some of the milestone studies that have pushed this field forward, and have interactive discussions on discussion boards and social media. You’ll even have an opportunity to let us know what topics you want to cover on tweetchats, so we can try to make the content fit your interests.

There is something in this course for everyone – if you’re a breast cancer survivor or the friend/family member of someone with this disease, this course will help you to better understand this disease, and give you ideas for questions you may want to ask your doctor. Maybe you’re a healthcare provider or studying to be the same, this course is a great refresher on where the state of the science is. If you’re a healthcare administrator wondering about how the interdisciplinary components of breast cancer care fit together, or an entrepreneur thinking about unmet needs in this space, or someone in public health interested in prevention, this course is also for you!

Are you ready to learn a lot, and have some fun while we’re at it? If so, I hope you’ll join us! Let’s get started!!!

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• Leading cause of cancer in women worldwide
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Breast Cancer and Its Population Burden Essay

Introduction, facts and figures, population impacts, environmental factors, social factors, potential solution to breast cancer.

The overriding objective of this paper is to provide a detailed discussion of the burden of breast cancer. The other objectives that are central to this paper are highlighted below:

• To determine which group is at a high risk of breast cancer
• To elucidate the impact of breast cancer on elderly women and those below the age of 45 years
• To highlight the possible solutions to the burden of breast cancer
• To discuss, in detail, some of the possible causes of breast cancer – environmental and social factors.

Breast cancer (BC) is regarded as the most common type of cancer globally. According to Mascara and Constantinou (2021), “about 2.3 million people are diagnosed with the disease each year” (p. 9). In the U.S., approximately 264000 and 2400 cancer cases are diagnosed each year among women and men, respectively (Mascara and Constantinou (2021, p. 6). African American women have a high mortality rate of breast cancer. The main facts about this condition are that it has a high survival rate, and women are at a higher risk than men for developing it.

While there are several types of cancer, breast cancer is regarded as the second leading cause of death among women. Women above 55 years are at a high risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer. More specifically, it is common after menopause – “longer exposure to estrogen increases a woman’s risk of breast cancer” (Madigan et al., 2020, p. 9). However, there are a few cases of this condition among women below 45 (Madigan et al., 2020, p. 9). In the U.S., for instance, about 9% of all the cases are recorded in women below 45 years

Most older women living with breast cancer are considered underdiagnosed and undertreated. This explains why this population has a low survival rate. According to Madigan et al. (2020), the majority of women who die of breast cancer are above 65 years. In addition to this, screening for this condition in the elderly population is very controversial. In fact, mammography is rarely performed in women between 65 and 70 years old (Madigan et al. (2020). Most of these women delay reporting the signs and symptoms of this condition – it is diagnosed at a more advanced stage.

The one known environmental factor that increases the risk of breast cancer is long exposure to ionizing radiation. According to Burstein et al. (2019), continued exposure to “environmental pollutants and toxic chemicals are possible risk factors for breast cancer.” However, the possibility of developing this condition depends largely on the period and type of exposure. Burstein et al.’s (2019) study focused on women exposed to polybrominated diphenyl ethers and bisphenol A. They noted that most women during the menopausal transition were at a high risk of developing breast cancer.

Social factors contribute a lot to the health and well-being of individuals. Among breast cancer patients, income and education, unemployment, social support, and neighborhood limitations are the main risks for breast cancer. Other social factors include food insecurity, poor housing, and lack of medical trust. Lack of social support, for instance, is associated with an increase in cancer-related deaths (Coughlin, 2019). This happens because most of them are socially isolated – they lack essential instrumental support. Overall, more affluent women, regardless of race, are at a higher risk of developing breast cancer.

The available solutions aim at reducing the risk of developing breast cancer. According to Montagnese et al. (2020), lifestyle changes are crucial to decreasing the risk of BC. The first possible solution requires one to maintain a healthy weight. For instance, healthy adults should strive to achieve at least 150 minutes of aerobic activity combined with up to 75 minutes of vigorous exercises (Montagnese et al., 2020). However, it is important to consult the healthcare provider regarding the available healthy strategies to help them accomplish the same.

Another possible solution to breast cancer, specifically for women below the age of 45 years, is through breastfeeding. More specifically, such women should consider breastfeeding for at least one year. This helps reduce the risk of breast cancer post-menopause. Similarly, hormone therapy in menopause should not be taken for the long term as it increases the risk of breast cancer – “whether estrogen is taken by itself or combined with progestin” (Jelly & Choudhary, 2019, p. 47). This presentation emphasizes that for those women who opt to take hormone therapy, it should be for the short-term.

As evidenced above, breast cancer is the second leading cause of death in women, especially those aged 65 years and above. Based on research, approximately 264000 and 2400 cancer cases are diagnosed each year among women and men, respectively. In addition to this, both environmental and social factors play a critical role in the development of breast cancer. For instance, ionizing radiation is one of the main environmental factors associated with this condition. Scholars recommend lifestyle changes combined with physical activity in an attempt to minimize the risk of being diagnosed with the condition.

Burstein, H. J., Curigliano, G., Loibl, S., Dubsky, P., Gnant, M., Poortmans, P., & Thurlimann, B. (2019). Estimating the benefits of therapy for early-stage breast cancer: The St. Gallen International Consensus Guidelines for the primary therapy of early breast cancer 2019 . Annals of Oncology , 30 (10), 1541-1557. Web.

Coughlin, S. S. (2019). Social determinants of breast cancer risk, stage, and survival . Breast cancer research and treatment , 177 (3), 537-548. Web.

Jelly, P., & Choudhary, S. (2019). Breastfeeding and breast cancer: A risk reduction strategy . Int J Med Paediatr Oncol , 5 (2), 47-50. Web.

Madigan, L. I., Dinh, P., & Graham, J. D. (2020). Neoadjuvant endocrine therapy in locally advanced estrogen or progesterone receptor-positive breast cancer: determining the optimal endocrine agent and treatment duration in postmenopausal women—A literature review and proposed guidelines . Breast Cancer Research , 22 (1), 1-13. Web.

Mascara, M., & Constantinou, C. (2021). Global perceptions of women on breast cancer and barriers to screening . Current Oncology Reports , 23 (7), 1-9. Web.

Montagnese, C., Porciello, G., Vitale, S., Palumbo, E., Crispo, A., Grimaldi, M., & Augustin, L. S. (2020). Quality of life in women diagnosed with breast cancer after a 12-month treatment of lifestyle modifications . Nutrients , 13 (1), 136. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2023, December 28). Breast Cancer and Its Population Burden. https://ivypanda.com/essays/breast-cancer-and-its-population-burden/

"Breast Cancer and Its Population Burden." IvyPanda , 28 Dec. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/breast-cancer-and-its-population-burden/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Breast Cancer and Its Population Burden'. 28 December.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Breast Cancer and Its Population Burden." December 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/breast-cancer-and-its-population-burden/.

1. IvyPanda . "Breast Cancer and Its Population Burden." December 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/breast-cancer-and-its-population-burden/.

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IvyPanda . "Breast Cancer and Its Population Burden." December 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/breast-cancer-and-its-population-burden/.

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• Women Experiencing Menopause: A Support Group Formation
• Menopause and Associated Anatomical Changes
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• Pap Smear and Cervical Cancer: Oncology Nursing
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• Prostate Cancer: Urinary Frequency and Incontinence

Introduction to Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a malignant cell growth in the breast . If left untreated, the cancer spreads to other areas of the body. Excluding skin cancer , breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women in the United States, accounting for one of every three cancer diagnoses.

An estimated 211,240 new invasive cases of breast cancer were expected to occur among women in the United States during 2005. About 1,690 new male cases of breast cancer were expected in 2005.

The incidence of breast cancer rises after age 40. The highest incidence (approximately 80% of invasive cases) occurs in women over age 50.

In addition to invasive breast cancer, 58,590 new cases of in situ breast cancer are expected to occur among women during 2005. Of these, approximately 88% will be classified as ductal carcinoma in situ ( DCIS ). The detection of DCIS cases is a direct result of the increased use of mammography screening . This screening method is also responsible for detection of invasive cancers at a less advanced stage than might have occurred otherwise.

An estimated 40,870 deaths (40,410 women, 460 men) were anticipated from breast cancer in 2005. Breast cancer ranks second among cancer deaths in women. According to the most recent data , mortality rates declined significantly during 1992-1998, with the largest decreases in younger women, both white and black.

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Breast Cancer Essay Examples

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Nursing , DNA , Breast Cancer , Treatment , Cancer , Gene , Genetics , Receptor

Words: 1000

Published: 07/05/2021

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Introduction

Breast cancer is a genetic disorder so common that it has claimed the lives of many women all over the world with statistics showing that it’s concentrated on the age of 45 - 55 years. Breast cancer, along with the other category of this disease is the product of the occurrence of a metastasized tumor. Neoplasm forms when genes are expressed abnormally such that the natural outcome of somatic cells is associated. Mutation, deletion and amplification of genes that control cellular growth and differentiation also cause the formation of a neoplasm. Thus, it is very critical to understand the genetic components of tumors because this understanding can be the missing puzzle in finding molecular pathways of malignant tumors. Molecular pathways are essential because they may provide useful information to identify and treat molecular targets for immunotherapy. Several treatments have been developed for breast cancer in the past 40 years. From mastectomy, aggressive treatments were introduced to conserve the breast of the patient. These treatments include adjuvant chemotherapy and hormonal therapy.

The introduction of hormonal therapy during the 1980s has reduced the number of estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor positive cancer. The number of dying women who are suffering from this debilitating disease continues to dwindle as the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab was introduced in the 1990s to treat HER2 positive (human epidermal growth factor receptor) breast cancer. Trastuzumab is the first monoclonal antibody that was approved for immunotherapy that targets oncogenes and has proven to be beneficial for women who are diagnosed with HER2 positive breast cancer.

The HER2 human epidermal receptor is a part of the family of epithelial tyrosine kinase receptors (HER1, HER2, HER3 and HER4) that exists in different combinations. Tyrosine kinase receptors interact with a ligand, an ion that attaches to a metal atom that forms a complex, to facilitate signaling pathways for intercellular communication. Breast cancers that have great excess of HER2 protein are more destructive than other breast cancer. The prognosis and chance of survival is not optimistic as that of patients that does not have an excessive number of HER2 genes.

The precise binding of a ligand to a receptor allows the interaction of a heterodimer, a protein made up of two polypeptide sequence having conflicting composition in the progression, number, or type amino acid deposit, that is responsible in determining which signal pathway is stimulated to control cell growth (3). HER2’s pairing with a ligand in a non-specific sequence has allowed the survival and differentiation of cells. HER2 also promotes ligand binding with heterodimers. As a consequence, the rate of incorporating the ligand-heterodimer complex in intracellular signaling decreases as compared to other heterodimer complexes. Further, HER2 homodimer is inherently active. When the HER2 gene is amplified, HER2 protein increases nearly a hundred times leading to HER2 homodimerization and activation and dysregulation of receptor and this initiates the progression of the tumor in the body.

In a recent trastuzumab-based chemotherapy research, it was shown that the level of amplification of HER2 gene is a good predictor of the sensitivity of a patient to therapy and cancer survival rates. It could link the significance of advanced cancer genome sequencing playing a very crucial role in understanding the nature of HER2 as a potential gene target for cancer treatments.

Mutation in HER2 gene is comparable to the insertion of nine base pairs in exon 20 in the EGFR of HER2 domains. As was previously mentioned, HER2 selectively forms heterodimer complexes with EGF receptors. When mutation occurs, the ATP binding pockets of these receptors increases tyrosine kinase activity. Hence, signal peptides are excessively phosphorylated while neoplastic cells grow in number, its sensitivity or resistance to tyrosine kinase activity decreases. This indicates the need to investigate the insertion in exon 20 of HER2 gene because mutations in HER2 gene can be biomarker for immunotherapy.

SNP has greatly helped oncology with its genetic alterations like insertions and removals and signal transduction study which provided researches the important information into the source and consequence of many varying kinds of cancer, pointing to suitable detection and healing. It is therefore the aim of this study to determine the presence of mutation in the HER2 gene and examine how mutation affects the sensitivity of patients to drugs that target the receptor. This study was preformed by isolating the genomic DNA from human breast cancer cell line. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify the exon 20 0f the HER2 gene. After purifying the PCR products, the isolated HER2 gene was ligated to pJet 1.2 vector. The pJet/HEX20 was transformed in E. coli.

The plasmids were isolated and analyzed by restriction digestion with HindIII restriction enzyme to verify the presence of the insert. Then it was intended that the DNA would be sequenced and observed for any mutations in the cloned gene.

- Incorvati J, Shah S, Mu Y, Lu J. Targeted therapy for HER2 positive breast cancer. Journal of Hematology and Oncology. 2013; 6(38):1-9. - Ayoub N, Lucas C, Kaddoumi A. Genomics and pharmacogenomics of breast cancer: current knowledge and trends. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention. 2011; 12, 1127-1140. - Baselga J, Albanell J. Mechanism of action of anti-HER2 monoclonal antibodies. Annals of Oncology. 2001; 12(1): S35-S41. - Zito C, Riches D, Kolmakova J, Simons J, Egholm M, Stern D. Direct resequencing of the complete ERBB2 coding sequence reveals an absence of activating mutations in ERBB2 amplified breast cancer. Genes, Chromosomes and Cancer. 2008; 47, 633-638. - Gomez C, Plaza J, Salud A, Pons F, Fonseca P. Level of HER2 gene amplification predicts response and overall survival in HER2-positive advanced gastric cancer treated with trastuzumab. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2013; 48, 9070. - Nicos M, Krawczyk P, Mlak R, Sawicki M, Jarosz B. The presence of HER2 Exon 20 insertion in patients with central nervous system metastases. Pneumonologia i Alergolia Polska. 2013; 81, 294-297.

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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

A bibliometric analysis of her2-positive breast cancer: 1987–2024.

• 1 Department of Surgery, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, University of Medicine and Health Sciences (RCSI), Dublin, Ireland
• 2 Department of Surgery, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland

Aim: The overamplification of human epidermal growth factor (HER2) in breast cancer (BC) has been the subject of numerous research publications since its discovery in 1987. This is the first bibliometric analysis (BA) conducted on HER2-positive (HER2+) BC. The purpose of this BA is to analyze the published research on HER2+ BC from 1987 to 2024, highlighting the most significant scientific literature, as well as the main contributing authors and journals, and evaluating the impact of clinical and lab-based publications on HER2+ BC research.

Methods: The Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) was searched using the terms “Breast cancer” OR “Breast carcinoma” OR “Breast tumor” AND “HER2 positive” OR “HER2+”. The search was limited by publication year (1987–2024) and only full English articles were included. WoS returned 7,469 relevant results, and from this dataset, a bibliometric analysis was conducted using the “analyze results” and “journal citation report” functions in WoS and the VOSviewer 1.6.16 software to generate bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis of authors.

Results: The analysis encompassed a total of 7,469 publications, revealing a notable increase in the annual number of publications, particularly in recent years. The United States, China, Italy, Germany, and Spain were the top five most prolific countries. The top five significant institutions that published HER2+ research were the University of Texas System, Unicancer, UTMD Anderson Cancer Center, Harvard University, and University of California System. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment , Clinical Cancer Research , and Clinical Breast Cancer were the top three notable journals with the highest number of HER2+ BC publications. Dennis Slamon (Nc = 45,411, H-index = 51) and Jose Baselga (Nc = 32,592, H-index = 55) were the most prolific authors. Evolving research topics include anti-HER2 therapy in the neoadjuvant setting, treatment of metastatic HER2+ BC, and overcoming therapy resistance.

Conclusion: This study provides an overview of HER2+ BC research published over the past three decades. It provides insight into the most cited papers and authors, and the core journals, and identifies new trends. These manuscripts have had the highest impact in the field and reflect the continued evolution of HER2 as a therapeutic target in BC.

Introduction

Breast cancer (BC) has the highest incidence of all cancers worldwide and is the leading cause of cancer death in women ( 1 ). It accounts for 12.5% of new annual cancer cases and has an estimated mortality rate of 6.9% ( 2 , 3 ). BC can be classified by molecular subtype based on the expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) on immunohistochemistry ( 4 ). These subtypes include luminal type A (ER+, PR+, HER2−), luminal type B (ER+, PR−/high Ki67, HER2+/−), HER2 subtype (ER−, PR−/low Ki-67, HER2+), and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtype (ER−, PR−/low Ki67, HER2−) ( 4 ). In the era of personalized medicine, BC molecular subtype hugely influences overall treatment, targeted therapeutics, and prognosis.

HER2+ BC constitutes approximately 10%–15% of BCs ( 2 ). HER2 is a tyrosine kinase receptor present on breast cells for the normal proliferation of breast tissue. The overamplification of HER2 leads to increased proliferation and activation of proto-oncogenic pathways ( 4 ). In comparison to the luminal subtypes, HER2+ BC has a higher proliferation rate, higher recurrence rate, and higher tendency to metastasize, with up to 30%–50% of HER2+ BC patients developing brain metastases ( 4 ). The result is that only TNBC has a worse prognosis than HER2+ BC ( 4 ).

The advent of targeted therapies for HER2+ BC has improved the outcomes and prognosis of the disease. The initial therapy, trastuzumab (Herceptin®), is a monoclonal antibody that directly targets HER2 ( 5 ). In its seminal trial, the addition of trastuzumab to chemotherapy saw an increase in median survival from 20.3 months to 25.1 months ( p = 0.046) ( 5 ), revolutionizing the treatment of HER2+ BC. Anti-HER2 antibodies continue to have a pivotal role in the treatment of HER2+ BC. A 2022 population-based cohort study evaluating women with T1a/bN0M0 HER2+ BC reported that there was a 5-year disease-free survival of 94.8% in women who received adjuvant trastuzumab in comparison to 82.7% in women who did not receive trastuzumab ( 6 ). There was also a 5-year overall survival of 100% in the women who received trastuzumab compared to 90.4% of women who did not receive trastuzumab. Since the development of trastuzumab, new monoclonal antibodies (i.e., pertuzumab) have been developed with advancements in the cell signaling cascades leading to improved progression-free and overall survival ( 7 ). The current general first-line regimen for HER2+ BC is a single-agent chemotherapeutic in combination with trastuzumab and pertuzumab ( 8 ). Therapies such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors (e.g., lapatinib and neratinib) are also being used in the treatment of HER2+ BC. The treatment of HER2+ BC brain metastases is varied. Treatment decisions are often individualized based on expert opinion. However, treatment usually consists of a combination of systemic anti-cancer treatments, radiotherapy, and surgery ( 7 ).

In this study, we performed a bibliometric analysis of the most significant scientific literature published on HER2+ BC from 1987 to 2024 in order to evaluate the impact and analyze the trends of both clinical and lab-based research publications on this topic. While bibliometric analyses have been performed on several topics in BC ( 9 – 11 ), this is the first study undertaken to determine the most influential literature in HER2+ BC. This study provides a succinct analysis and summary of the most-cited papers, authors, and core journals on HER2+ BC, aiming to provide insight into the evolution of the HER2+ BC literature, and how this progression has impacted the treatment of HER2+ BC.

Materials and methods

The Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) was searched using the terms “Breast cancer” OR “Breast carcinoma” OR “Breast tumor” AND “HER2 positive” OR “HER2+”, yielding 20,049 results. The search was refined to include only English articles from publication years 1987–2024. This search gave 7,469 results. The WoSCC software was then used to categorize the results and retrieve the number of publications and H-index for authors, years, countries, and journals. The results were used to identify the current globally approved HER2+ BC treatment. The NIH clinicaltrials.gov database was used to identify the clinical trials and national clinical trial (NCT) number. Studies were exported to Microsoft Excel to chart a bar graph based on the number of publications per year. WoSCC Journal Citation Reports was used to record the 5-year Journal Impact factor and Eigenfactor Score for each journal. The VOSviewer 1.6.16 software was used to generate bibliographic coupling analyses, co-citation analysis of authors, and co-occurrence analysis of keywords.

Annual number of publications

Figure 1 represents the annual number of articles published on HER2+ BC since its discovery in 1987. In total, 7,469 articles have been published on HER2+ BC. The annual publication rate has increased exponentially ( y = 73.173e 0.1353 x , R 2  = 0.9238), representing HER2’s continually evolving role in precision oncology.

Figure 1 The trend in publication on HER2+ breast cancer since the discovery of HER2.

A total of 101 countries have contributed to publication on HER2+ BC. The top three contributors have been the USA with 2,570 publications (34%), China with 1,291 publications (17%), and Italy with 761 publications (10%) (summary in Table 1 ). However, after the USA (H-index 180, Nc 192,016), Germany had the highest H-index (107) and Nc (65,528). VOSviewer was used to visualize co-authorship between countries. Countries with at least five publications were included (75 countries). Increasing node size represents the number of articles, and the thickness of the line represents the degree of cooperation. The USA occupied the central position and shared co-authorship with England, Germany, Spain, and China, among others. The three countries with the strongest link strength were the USA (2,570 articles, 19,2016 citations, total link strength 3,229), Germany (630 articles, 65,528 citations, total link strength 1,937), and Spain (562 articles, 56,396 citations, total link strength 1,820). Despite China having the second most published articles, it ranked 14th in terms of cooperation with other nations (link strength 642) (summary in Figure 2A ). The USA had its highest APY in 2016. Similar APY trends are observed in other Western countries. Conversely, China, along with several other Asian and Arab countries, had its highest APY in 2023 (summary in Figure 2B ).

Table 1 Table showing global approved anti-HER2+ therapies.

Figure 2 Visualization of countries involved in HER2+ BC research. (A) Visualization of cooperation between countries. (B) Visualization of temporal cooperation overlay between regions.

Journals and authors

Articles in the field of HER2+ BC were published in 1,038 journals; 120 of these journals published 10 or more articles. Table 2 shows the journals with the highest quantity of publications and number of citations (Nc). The top three journals with the highest quantity were Breast Cancer Research and Treatment (481), Clinical Cancer Research (221), and Clinical Breast Cancer (168). In respect to Nc and H-index, Clinical Cancer Research (Nc = 15,806, H-Index = 72) held the number one position, followed by Breast Cancer Research (Nc = 13,248, H-Index = 59) and Annals of Oncology (Nc = 12,352, H-Index = 68).

Table 2 The top 10 journals with the highest number of publications.

A total of 34,790 authors contributed to the field of HER2+ research of varying impacts. Table 3 shows the top 10 authors with the most publications and citations. The top three authors with the highest number of articles were Jose Baselga (91 articles), Seock-Ah Im (77 articles), and Nadia Harbeck 73 articles). However, the authors with the highest Nc and H-index, which gives insight into the citation impact and quality of research, were Dennis Slamon (Nc = 45,411, H-index = 51), Jose Baselga (Nc = 32,592, H-index = 55), and Axel Ullrich (Nc = 17,068 H-index= 7).

Table 3 The top 10 authors with the most publications and Nc.

Co-cited references and top 10 cited papers

Figures 3A, B illustrate the density visualization and network visualization respectively of co-citation references in HER2 papers. The figure shows that the Slamon, DJ 1987 article has the largest cluster, indicating the highest citation co-citation count. Table 4 shows the top 10 co-cited references in HER2+ BC. The top 3 publications with the highest citation frequencies were all by the author Slamon, DJ (1987) ( n = 1,749), (2001) ( n = 1,417), and (1989) ( n = 942).

Figure 3 Visualization of article citations in HER2+ BC research. (A) Visualization of paper citation density. (B) Visualization of network co-citation between articles.

Table 4 The top 10 co-cited references based on citation counts.

The top 10 most cited papers on HER2+ BC are summarized in Table 5 . The top three most cited papers were all written by Denis Slamon, representing the discovery of HER2 and its initial therapeutic implications. “Human-breast cancer—Correlation of relapse and survival with amplification of the HER-2 neu oncogene” was published in Science in 1987 (IF 56.9) and has been cited 9,708 times, “Use of chemotherapy plus a monoclonal antibody against HER2 for metastatic BC that overexpresses HER2” was published in the New England Journal of Medicine (IF 158.9) in 2001 and has been cited 8,923 times, and “Studies of the HER-2/Neu proto-oncogene in human-breast and ovarian-cancer” was published in Science (IF-56.9) in 1989 and has been cited 6,186 times. Summarized in Figure 3 , Slamon’s 1987 paper holds the central position, with other seminal articles such as Von Minckwitz’s paper “Adjuvant pertuzumab and trastuzumab in early HER2-positive breast cancer”, Geyer’s paper “Lapatinib plus capecitabine for HER2-positive advanced breast cancer”, and Goel’s paper, “Overcoming therapeutic resistance in HER2-positive breast cancers with CD4/6 inhibitors”.

Table 5 The top 10 most cited HER2+ research articles.

Bibliographic coupling analysis of institutions

A total of 9,577 institutions contributed to publication on HER2+ BC. The three institutions with the most publications were the University of Texas System (414), Unicancer (347), and University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre (339). However, the University of California System had the highest Nc (61,133) (summary in Table 6 ). VOSviewer was used to visualize co-authorship and collaboration between institutions ( Figure 4 ), including institutions with a minimum of five published articles (1,266). Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (213 articles, 29,574 citations, total link strength 994), Dana Farber Cancer Institute (151 articles, 18,227 citations, total link strength 890), and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (204 articles, 13,888 citations, total link strength 890) had the most cooperation of any institutions in the field of HER2+ BC research. Similar to the distribution of publications by country, the institutions from the USA and Europe had their highest APYs ~2016, while Chinese institutions were most published ~5 years later.

Table 6 The top 10 organizations with the highest number of publications.

Figure 4 Visualization of institutions involved in HER2+ BC research. (A) Visualization of cooperation between institutions. (B) Visualization of temporal cooperation overlay between institutions.

Co-occurrence analysis of keywords

The top 20 used keywords are listed in Table 7 . Unsurprisingly, the top keywords were “breast cancer” (2,824 articles, total link strength 2815), “trastuzumab” (2,077 articles, total link strength 2072), and “HER2” (1,673 articles, total link strength 1673). Network analysis of keywords, visualized using VOSviewer in Figure 5A , revealed that these terms, along with chemotherapy and expression, were central hubs. Figure 5B reveals that newer terms of importance include antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs), lapatinib plus paclitaxel, the HERA trial, and cardiac safety. The top 15 topics focused on in the last 10 years are shown in Table 8 and Figure 6 . The top three discussion topics were adjuvant pertuzumab and trastuzumab, trastuzumab emtansine, and neratinib after trastuzumab-based adjuvant therapy.

Table 7 Top 20 keywords in HER2+ research with the strongest strength links.

Figure 5 Visualization of keywords in HER2+ BC research. (A) Visualization of network co-citation of keywords. (B) Visualization of temporal co-citation overlay between keywords.

Table 8 Top 20 keywords in HER2+ research 2020–2024.

Figure 6 Pie chart visualization of the main topics of HER2+ articles focused on between 2020 and 2024.

Globally approved therapies for HER2+ BC

Table 9 shows a summary of targeted therapies and chemotherapy options used as interventions in HER2+ BC. Trastuzumab, the pioneering monoclonal antibody, was the first FDA-approved targeted therapy in 1998 for HER2+ BC, followed by lapatinib, pertuzumab, and trastuzumab emtansine. The table shows their associated clinical trials and FDA approval numbers. The drug pyrotinib is not approved by the FDA but is approved and used in China for the treatment of HER2+ metastatic BC. Margetuximab is a recently approved (2020) monoclonal antibody indicated for patients with metastatic HER2+ BC. Eribulin is a chemotherapeutic agent that, when combined with trastuzumab, can be used to treat HER2+ advanced BC.

Table 9 Table showing global approved anti-HER2+ therapies.

The HER2 gene was first discovered in mice in 1984; however, it was not until 1987 that Slamon et al. discovered the link between HER2 and BC ( 12 , 13 ). Initially, HER2+ BC was associated with aggressive disease and poor outcomes; however, the discovery of trastuzumab and improvements in precision oncology have led to dramatic prognostic improvement ( 14 ). To our knowledge, this study is the first bibliometric analysis of HER2+ BC. Analyzing the most cited and influential articles in HER2+ BC outlines the evolution of HER2+ BC and helps visualize emerging research trends, serving as a guide for clinicians on the current state and future direction of HER2 research.

The most cited paper on HER2+ BC is Slamon et al.’s 1987 paper ( 13 ), which established the correlation between HER2 and human BC. This paper found that 30% of breast tumors demonstrate amplification of the HER2 oncogene to greater than 20-fold even when other prognostic factors were controlled ( 13 ). Ultimately, the data from this study helped determine the impact of HER2 in the pathogenesis of BC. The next most cited papers focus on biological mechanisms aiming to ascertain the association between HER2 overexpression and prognosis. A 1989 study by J. Baselga et al. shed light on the role of Trastuzumab in enhancing the anti-tumor activity of paclitaxel and doxorubicin against HER2 amplified human BC xenografts ( 14 ). This publication precipitated a shift in focus from the efficacy of screening HER2+ BC towards exploiting HER2 as a therapeutic target. The importance of anti-HER2 therapies, both as single agents and in combination with other therapies, is demonstrated in this analysis with consistently high publication numbers. The current standard of care for adjuvant treatment of HER2+ BC, is dual anti-HER2 monoclonal antibodies (trastuzumab and pertuzumab) with docetaxel. This regimen was established largely on the basis of the promising results of the CLEOPTATRA trial, and a recent increase in citations highlights the magnitude of this trial’s impact on HER2+ BC ( 15 ). The similarly cited HERA trial reported no benefit in 2 years of trastuzumab treatment over 1 year, leading to guideline changes ( 16 ). This level of citation again reflects the impact this research has had on the landscape of HER2+ BC.

A total of 101 countries contributed to papers on the topic of HER2+ BC. The USA was the highest contributor, a somewhat expected finding given the HER2 gene and the association of HER2 positivity with BC and trastuzumab were all discovered there. Other factors such as the availability of resources and funding likely facilitated this high ranking. The top affiliations were the University of Texas system, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCL), Genentech, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Harvard University. These institutions have a long-standing interest in HER2+ BC research. Dennis Slamon, the founder of trastuzumab, is the chief of the division of Hematology-Oncology at UCLA, and Genentech is the company that developed trastuzumab.

“Metastatic breast cancer” is among the most commonly used keywords in the last 5 years, as despite overall treatment advances, the prognosis of metastatic BC remains poor. This is particularly relevant to HER2+ BC given the reduced efficacy of targeted HER2 in the metastatic setting. Development of resistance to anti-HER2 therapies has thus far posed an insurmountable therapeutic challenge, particularly in the context of advanced disease. However, the development of novel treatments including immunotherapy, cell-cycle inhibitors, and ADCs has improved outcomes of metastatic disease. ADCs have had particularly promising results in metastatic disease, and this is reflected by their high article publication and citation numbers of late. ADCs, such as trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) and trastuzumab emtansine (TDM-1), consist of a cell surface protein antigen, a cytotoxic agent, and a linker that combines them ( 17 ). The DESTINY-Breast03 trial, a multicenter randomized control trial (RCT), found that median progression-free survival with T-DXd was 28.8 months (95% CI 22.4–37.9) compared to 6.8 months (95% CI 5.6–8.2) in those treated with trastuzumab emtansine [hazard ratio 0.33 (95% CI 0.26–0.43), p < 0.0001] ( 18 ). TDXt is also currently being explored in the neoadjuvant setting for primary disease ( 19 ). The interest in research focused on overcoming resistance is clear in this study, with “resistance” identified as a top key term for the last 5 years. The centrality of Goel et al.’s article, “Overcoming therapeutic resistance in HER2-positive breast cancers with CD4/6 inhibitors”, in citation analysis affirms this focus ( 20 ). Several mechanisms of treatment resistance are recognized including activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway in response to prolonged treatment course, which may cause resistance through expression of mutated PTEN or PIK3CA genes ( 21 ). Detailed understanding of this pathway, gained through scientific exploration, has led to the FDA approval of capisertib, an Akt inhibitor ( 22 ). This exemplifies the importance of cohesive international efforts to elucidate the interaction between signaling pathways, tumor proliferation, and treatment response at a molecular level to identify druggable targets that improve patient outcomes. Other important mechanisms of resistance backed by numerous publications include Src mutations, MET mutations, and HER2 activating mutations ( 21 ).

Anti-HER2 therapy in the neoadjuvant setting is another focus of continually evolving HER2+ BC research. Dual trastuzumab and pertuzumab in combination with chemotherapy is prescribed both to downstage larger HER2+ primary tumors and to assess tumor response, guiding subsequent adjuvant therapies ( 23 ). The results of several ongoing trials assessing the efficacy of other therapeutic agents in achieving a pathological complete response and improving survival outcomes such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors, immunotherapy, and ADCs are eagerly awaited ( 19 , 24 , 25 ).

There are several limitations of this study. WoSCC was the only database that was used to search for manuscripts. While WoSCC has the broadest collection of literature and is one of the most widely used databases, it is possible that some articles have been omitted. Secondly, the level of evidence for each study was not evaluated as the present study aims to delineate the landscape of HER2+ BC research since its discovery in 1987 rather than provide a review of the literature itself. Lastly, the confounding factor of time since publication was not comprehensively analyzed, and thus, the citation numbers may be elevated in older publications as a result of having more time for citation rather than a true predominance of interest. An example is the omission of publications on HER2 vaccines in the treatment of BC. In 2022, NCT00436254 established the efficacy and safety of a plasmid DNA vaccine encoding the ERBB2 intracellular domain in late-stage HER2+ BC ( 26 ). NCT00791037 observed that T-cell infusion post HER2 DNA vaccine improved survival outcomes in patients with advanced disease ( 27 ). While failing to be recognized by the lists compiled in this study, this cutting-edge area of research may be among the most impactful in future management of HER2+ BC.

The present study illustrates the evolution of HER2 since the discovery of its link with BC. The discovery of anti-HER2 therapies and subsequent improvements in patient outcomes highlights the importance of both clinical and lab-based research in BC. The US and US-based institutions have continued to publish the most impactful articles on HER2+ BC. Emerging trends in HER2+ BC research are treatment of metastatic HER2+ BC, overcoming therapy resistance, and targeting HER2 in the neoadjuvant setting.

Author contributions

SA-T: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Methodology, Project administration, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. GD: Conceptualization, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – review & editing. GD: Resources, Software, Writing – review & editing. CK: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. LC: Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing. JM: Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing. MA: Writing – review & editing. SN: Writing – review & editing. CP: Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing – review & editing. AH: Supervision, Writing – review & editing.

The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: HER2+, breast cancer, anti-HER2, trastuzumab, bibliometric, analysis

Citation: Ali-Thompson S, Daly GR, Dowling GP, Kilkenny C, Cox L, McGrath J, AlRawashdeh MM, Naidoo S, Power C and Hill ADK (2024) A bibliometric analysis of HER2-positive breast cancer: 1987–2024. Front. Oncol. 14:1355353. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1355353

Received: 18 December 2023; Accepted: 10 April 2024; Published: 01 May 2024.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2024 Ali-Thompson, Daly, Dowling, Kilkenny, Cox, McGrath, AlRawashdeh, Naidoo, Power and Hill. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Sherlissa Ali-Thompson, [email protected]

† These authors have contributed equally to this work and share first authorship

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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The Body In Breast Cancer: Introduction

The experience of breast cancer at once compels particular interfaces of body and machine in detection, treatment, and “recovery,” and the necessity for corporeal reworking in relation to the machine. Stressing the material breast as a technologized terrain necessitates grappling with the myriad of troubled relations of/to the breast, such as the prosthetic breast, the absent breast, fear of the lost breast, refusal of the breast, the scrutinized fleshy breast. In order to enable such exploration, this special issue draws on works in feminist philosophy, feminist science and technology studies, queer theory, cultural and visual studies, performance studies, and disability studies that enter into dialogue with scholarship on (bio)technologies and/or the posthuman. The project aims to yield new ways of understanding subjectivity and somatic resistance, crafting corporeality, and practicing critique/politics in order to extend “livable lives.”

Related Papers

Nadine Ehlers

In making the subject present, feminist and queer investigations of breast cancer have insisted not only that attention be paid to the embodied experience of the disease, but also to how breast cancer is mediated by broader social, political, environmental, and economic factors and relations of power. This chapter examines these various scales, first exploring the broader issues related to breast cancer, namely the public administration of the disease and wider factors that condition breast cancer and the materiality of the body. Here I consider the biopolitics of cancer, the construction and management of "risky" bodies and subjects , and risk/body/environment transfers. The chapter then scales down to examine the material effects of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, in terms of how the disease is subjectively experienced at the level of the body. I argue that without representing and witnessing how breast cancer surveillance, diagnosis, and treatment registers at the level of matter—how it alters the very materiality of the body—we are unable to do justice to those who live with and die from this disease. These realities, many argue, must push into the public politics of breast cancer and, indeed, be used as the platform to transform that politics: to account for the reality of vulnerability and death—and how these are unequally metered out—and work toward more affirmative, attentive, and just ways of fostering life.

Joanna Rankin

Over the last decades the exploration of diverse bodies have been effectively applied in feminist disability studies and disability studies more generally. Considering the increased incidence of advanced breast cancer resulting in mastectomy in young women (Johnson, 2013) ideas about divergent bodies are touching the mainstream to a greater degree. Looking to my own experience with breast cancer and the host of physical changes that have emerged as part of this journey, I have looked to disability studies and theoretical concepts of the body to explore my lived reality. This paper uses my own physical transformation to explore a medical system entrenched in traditional standards of female beauty during cancer treatment. More specifically I explore my experience of the hesitance of the medical community to allow women to diminish their femininity in the name of making them feel better about themselves. This paper calls for those who have undergone and are undergoing treatment to engage beyond the pink ribbon script of breast cancer and to instead look to the value of diverse bodies in spite of medical advice to the contrary. Acts of bodily resistance are explored as an additional path to wellness and a way to challenge normative gender based scripts of traditional femininity.

Human Studies

Marjolein de Boer

Dorothy Woodman

Review of Communication

“Beauty and the Breast: Mastectomy, Materiality and the Iconicity of Gender Identity.” American Sociological Association 2018 Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. Regular session: Culture and Identity, August 14

Anne Marie Champagne

In this paper I illustrate three pathways by which changes to the body and embodied gender identity take place and become materially iconicized: the visual, the sensual, and the discursive. Drawing on biographical interviews with breast cancer survivors, I show how materiality figures and is figured by the dialectic of the beautiful and the sublime along each of these pathways such that it is rendered as (1) a form that socially reconstructs the iconicity of the breast, (2) a sense that restores the iconicity of the breast's discursive depths, and/or (3) a discourse that rearticulates the iconicity of the breast. My research builds upon previous studies that examine the relationship between materiality and meaning, body and embodiment, and gender signification. While many of these studies shed light on how the social contingencies of material integrity and embodied performance can obfuscate or illuminate the polysemy of gender in social life, my research starts with but moves beyond the witnessable interactions of social life to chart individual processes by which iconically structured meanings of gender "interact with bodies and identities in the production of new embodied selves" (Shapiro 2010:181). In doing so, I reveal how the iconicity of the breast, enlivened at both the level of individual experience and social life, constitutes a fecund reservoir of meaning structures that can potentially spur cultural change. For these structures not only have the potential to make transgressive bodies comprehensible and thus citable, they also have the potential to render them pleasurable and thus inhabitable.

Revista Enfermagem Atual In Derme

Jaime Caravaca

Breast cancer is a major public health issue and it can impact individual’s lives in different dimensions. Although women are the ones most affected by this illness, there are other minority groups, such as men and transgender people, that are also affected and frequently ignored in healthcare approaches. People affected by breast cancer can face societal oppressions that puts them into a vulnerable situation where they need to deal with the suffering involved in have a serious illness and the societal expectations of the body. This situation can negatively influence an individual’s sense of identity and views of the body. As a result, it becomes necessary to dismantle the monolithic constructions on this collective, since these groups not only carry their gender identity but also the identities forged by social and cultural experiences. Thus, this article is a philosophical reflection to critically examine conceptual understandings of the body for individuals affected by breast can...

Marta Zarzycka

Communication & Medicine

Helle Hansen

This paper argues that breast cancer prognosis potentially produces a circular dialectic in which a) the subject is compelled to perceive the body as vulnerable and separate (alien) to the self, and the treatments required make the body more vulnerable, more alien and b) this is held in tension with the fact that the very alienation and heightened vulnerability of the body in breast cancer treatment is productive; it collapses the boundaries through which the body and self are understood, often demands a conscious intimacy of/with the body, and points to critical enactments and understandings of embodied subjectivity. I use the concept of dialectics here in a broad sense then, to mark the interaction of apparently conflicting states. While vulnerability is generally thought of as a somato-ontology to be avoided, and as a constraining, negative mode of being, through a shift in perspective it also appears as an enabling state. I argue that vulnerability might be seen as a relational ontology between flesh and self that is both restrictive and generative, where the restriction itself can be generative. Understanding vulnerability in this way might engender the critical politicization of risk and function as the place from which a radically altered/re-conceived politics proceeds. Such a politics would be ethico-political work around the issue of cancer. It would, perhaps, function ultimately as an ethics of vulnerability, foregrounding critical responsibility towards oneself, one’s life, the life of others, and the life of the community.

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Home — Essay Samples — Nursing & Health — Breast Cancer — The Ways of Raising Awareness about Breast Cancer

The Ways of Raising Awareness About Breast Cancer

• Categories: Awareness Breast Cancer

About this sample

Words: 1131 |

Published: Dec 5, 2018

Words: 1131 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Table of contents

Breast cancer speech outline, breast cancer speech example, introduction.

• Brief overview of breast cancer awareness and its goals

Breast Cancer Advocacy and Awareness

• Role of breast cancer advocates in raising funds and lobbying for better care
• The cultural aspect of breast cancer advocacy and pink ribbon culture
• The significance of the pink ribbon symbol and National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Support Groups

• Types of support groups (informational, emotional)
• The role of support groups in the recovery process
• Differences between formal and informal support groups

Support Group Variability

• Tailoring support groups to specific needs (age, stage of diagnosis)
• The availability of online support groups
• Unique challenges and needs of men with breast cancer

Impact of Support Groups

• Effectiveness of support groups in reducing stress and anxiety
• No proven impact on long-term survival
• Importance of social support from networks and its potential effect on survival

Available Resources

• Free resources for connecting with breast cancer support groups (online and in-person)

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Breast Cancer Essay Sample

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women. It can affect anyone, regardless of race or age, and there are certain factors that put people at higher risk for developing it. This essay will cover some of these risk factors and how to lower your chances of getting breast cancer.

Medical science students have to deal with tricky topics of assignments for writing their essays which are based on subjects like tumors, breast cancer, and many others.  Sometimes students fail to understand the format of writing an essay as three-layered essays are very common in trend these days. That is why an essay sample of breast cancer is preferred by the student which is written by the expert writers of Students Assignment Help.

Essay Example on Breast Cancer

• Thesis Statement of Breast Cancer Essay
• Introduction of Breast Cancer Essay
• What is the cause of Breast Cancer in the World?
• Efforts that are being made by World level organizations to check Breast Cancer
• Consequences of breast Cancer in Lactating Women
• How to bring changes in lifestyle to reduce the possibility of breast cancer?

Thesis Statement of Breast Cancer Essay Most of the women at the global level are suffering from breast tumors and they are not even mindful of this fact till the tertiary stage. Regular routine checkups, especially after pregnancy, can mitigate this issue to a certain height. Introduction of Breast Cancer Essay The issue of breast tumors is increasing day by day even when people are getting more and more aware of their hygiene. The results of breast cancer could be drawn from the mutation during x-rays and other such technology-driven processes and not always associated with lifestyle. The increasing number of breast cancer cases needs the attention of those who are doing research on such issues for a long time. Something must be done in order to detect this disorder at the very beginning so that treatment could be done on time. Here in this essay, we are going to discuss the cause, symptoms, and diagnosis of breast cancer in depth so that this problem can be checked to a certain limit. Consult Essay Writing Expert & Get Premium Essay Topics Order Now Main Essay Body of Breast Cancer Essay Go through the various aspects that are given about breast cancer in this essay and then you will be able to frame a view of your own on this serious topic. What is the cause of Breast Cancer in the World? Although every two women out of ten are suffering from these diseases but still the rigid causes behind the breast cancer are still not clear to researchers and doctors. Some of them trace its beginning from the shitty lifestyle and others say it is because of mutation physical and biological both. Whatsoever is the cause of breast cancer, it needs to be mitigated from the roots as soon as possible to make the world free from this problem. Efforts that are being made by World level organizations to check Breast Cancer World health organization is the chief health organization at global scale which looks after this issue more seriously. That is why various actions has been taken so far by it which includes regular checkups of the lactating mothers and pregnant women so that their problems could be detected early if there is any issue. But still there are people who do not bother to visit hospitals for these routine checkups owing to their hectic lifestyle or unawareness. That is why certain other actions must be required on the part of WHO that can make it possible to make world free from breast cancer issue. Hire an Essay Writer to Write your Complete Essay on Time Order Now Consequences of breast Cancer in Lactating Women A lactating mother is transferring all its nutrients to the infant through breast feeding. Although cancer cells cannot spread through milk but still there are certain harmful chemicals that pass to the infant through mother in this state. More lactating women need to take care of their breast cancer as this the major stage where the chances of such tumors are at the high scale. So in order to keep the baby and mother safe it is crucial to get the doctor’s appointment on regular basis after the delivery of the baby. How to bring changes in lifestyle to reduce the possibility of breast cancer? If you really bothered about it that you do not touch by any tumor cells then make sure to maintain the proper hygiene and go for regular checkups. This will reduce the risk of death from breast cancer and you will be able to get the best treatment on time. Conclusion The conclusion that could be drawn from the above essay is that personal hygiene and routine checkups can reduce the risk of breast cancer. More certain efforts could be made by the world level organization to ensure the routine checkups of those women who are not aware of this problem. So if you are assigned with such essays then make sure that this sample essay on breast cancer is read by you. You will be able to write thesis statement to the conclusion of your essay by having an vague idea about the basics of the topic. Consult with USA Essay Writers to Write your College Essay Order Now

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