Breast cancer
According to Belgium statistics, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women1. In 2020 more than 10.000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer. At Novartis, we are committed to keep improving and extending the lives of breast cancer patients.
Our ambition is to keep innovating and working with all relevant stakeholders in Belgium and Luxembourg, to make a difference in patients’ lives.
Risk factors for breast cancer
The risks and effects of breast cancer vary widely based on a number of factors. Below we provide an overview of the most common factors 2:
- Gender: Breast cancer is much more common in women than in men.
- Age: Risk increases with ages from 55 years and older
- Genetics: Breast cancer is diagnosed more often in white individuals. Risk decreases in Asion, Hispanic and Native American individuals.
- Family history: The risk increases significantly if breast cancer was diagnosed in parents, grandparents, …
- Personal history: Risk of developing new breast cancer increases if previously diagnosed at a younger age. The risk also increases when women have been diagnosed with certain types of benign (non-cancer) breast conditions
- Body length: Breast cancer is diagnosed more often in taller women than smaller women
- Lifestyle: Risk increases with obesity after menopause, alcohol, ionizing radiation
- Hormone exposure: Risk increases with early menarche, late menopause, oral contraceptives and diethylstilbestrol (DES). At the same time, studies show that risk decreases with oophorectomy before menopause, pregnancy before the age of 30, breastfeeding
Stages of breast cancer
Early stage symptoms of breast cancer3
Many women with early breast cancer have no signs and symptoms. This is why receiving the recommended screening test is so important. The widespread use of mammograms has increased the number of breast cancers detected before they cause any symptoms. However, mammograms do not detect every breast cancer, even under ideal conditions.
An overview of early signs of breast cancer:
- Edema (swelling) of all or part of the breast
- Skin dimpling
- Breast or nipple pain
- Nipple retraction
- Nipple or breast skin that is red, dry, flaking, or thickened
- Nipple discharge (other than breast milk)
- Swollen lymph nodes under the arm or near the collarbone
Advanced stage symptoms of breast cancer
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Paraneoplastic syndromes4: symptoms caused by the cancer but are not due to the tumour itself. They may be caused by hormones or other substances released into the bloodstream by the cancer, depletion of normal substances by the cancer, or a host response to the tumour. Symptoms occur in tissues remote from the initial cancer and any metastatic lesions.
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Metastatic disease causes symptoms related to the location and extend of the tumour. Symptoms include bone discomfort, skin changes, cough or shortness of breath, and fatigue
Paraneoplastic syndromes may be the first sign of cancer, appearing before the primary cancer is even diagnosed. Recognition of the symptoms may therefore lead to detection of an otherwise asymptomatic tumour at an early and treatable stage. Learn all about the different types of breast cancer treatments.
- Belgian cancer registry, Cancer fact sheet Breast cancer, ICD10:C50, Belgium 2020. Available at: http://kankerregister.org/media/docs/CancerFactSheets/2020/Cancer_Fact_S... Accessed November 23, 2022
- American cancer society (ACS). Breast cancer. Atlanta, GA.Breast Cancer Risk Factors You Can’t Change Accessed November 28, 2022
- American cancer society (ACS). Breast cancer. Atlanta, GA Breast Cancer Signs and Symptoms | Most Common Symptoms Accessed November 28, 2022
- Boyiadzis M Lieberman FS, Geskin LJ, et al. Paraneoplastic syndromes. In: DeVita Jr V, Lawrence T, Rosenberg S, eds. DeVita, Hellman, and Rosenberg’s Cancer Principles & Practice of Oncology.8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkin; 2008: 2343-2362