My mother has breast cancer and she's currently undergoing her chemotherapy treatments. She was diagnosed with Stage II. She seems to be just as healthy as she always was (or seemed to be), and the treatments are barely affecting her at all. But I always hear of people dying of breast cancer. I've never really understood how a person can die of breast cancer - is it like with AIDS, where the immune system is incapable of fighting off other illnesses and diseases, and those are what actually cause death?
Cancer - 11 Answers
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1 :
when the tumor, is too large or so uncontrollable, the body begins to shut down.....
2 :
All i understood about it too was that the cancer spreads on other parts of your body
3 :
Well there are different types of cancer, and the people who die of breast cancer probably have the type that spreads fast to all parts of the body. It can spread so fast that there isnt much people can do. I hope your mom gets better soon.
4 :
alot of cancer cells mestatisize (grow out in different directions) , this can affetc other areas of the body such as the lymph nodes and lymphatic system , cancer if contained to the breast doesn't kill because a masectomy would look after it I hope your Mom does fine
5 :
Breast cancer (and other primary locations of cancer) spread to other parts of the body, including lymph nodes and vital organs.
6 :
most of the time it spreads to other organs. my wife died from it . it was awfull to see in the last few months. she withered away . looked like she was a little old lady. I do not wish this on anyone and do wish your mother the best. Treatment has come along way and hope she is doing well and will continue to beat it.
7 :
First all the best to your mother: You are correct when you say the immune system is compromised. Chemotherapy can also lower the immune system as it knocks out white blood cells. Many cancer patients don't die of the actual disease they die of other infections, as their body cannot fight them off. If you mother is interested tell her to google all the natural things she can do to help herself. Denial looms large when one feels good. Cancer does spread if not checked and it affects other organs of the body and the immune system gets overloaded. Cut out sugar, soda's, try fresh vegies, limited fresh fruit (sugar conent) lots of salads, organic chicken because of the hormones. She needs to know if she has a hormonal affiliated breast cancer. Exercise, lots of water, good vitamin supplement. Epicor is a natural immune system booster and you can find it on google. A natural site for breast cancer survivors is www.polymvasurvivors.com if you wish to read up on those things.
8 :
My aunt passed away in February 2007. She was diagnosed at age 28. 20 years ago. She went into remission after a radical masectomy. Lymph nodes are all over and this is what helps fight and filter infection, malignancies included. Unfortunately, this does not always do the job. The cancer can metastasize to the lymphatic system and the malignancy will spread throughout the body. Different lymphnodes will fight off certain parts of body depending on location. Usually, most cancer will metastasize if caught too late. My aunt relapsed a few years ago and it spread to her bones and brain and other major organs. She died from her compromised immune system which was affected through cancer (lymphatic system). She got pnuemonia and could not fight it off. I hope your mom pulls through. The scary thing about breast cancer is that it does not have to be a lump. Many people mis interpret that. Cancer can be detected down to the size of a pin prick. Just look for abnormalities in your breast just in case this is a genetic condition.
9 :
Well first and foremost with the chemotherapy treatments this can be the starting point for a withering immune system. Then this can often cause spreading other parts of the body such as the bones or lungs causing cancer in this as well. At that point you have treatment going on for more than one part of the body causing very strong weakening of the immune system. This can often lead to death just like AIDS as you mentioned because the body is to weak to fight of any other small viruses leading to infections. Good Luck with your mom!
10 :
This is an excellent question. You deserve a complete answer. There are a few ways in which cancer can lead to death. How the disease progresses in each individual, if it cannot be medically and surgically controlled, is difficult to predict. However, there are patterns that recur in different kinds of cancer which show us that the biologic nature of different kinds of tumors are inherently different. The pattern of events in colon cancer, for example, are different from breast cancer, and both of them are different from prostate cancer... etc. One of the defining characteristics of cancer is the ability to spread to distant organs. This is called metastasis. Breast cancer is often capable of metastasis, most commonly to the lungs and to the bone marrow. This probably happens at a microscopic level even before the tumor is first found. When someone is evaluated for breast cancer, a finding of cancer in the lymph nodes of the armpit tends to suggest the potential for microscopic distant spread of disease even when none can yet be detected. Chemotherapy is the treatment of the whole body with anti-cancer medicine, designed to destroy these metastatic tumors before they can grow. Metastatic tumors can become a cause of death. Tumors in the brain can lead to interference with brain function. This is eventually unsurvivable. Tumors that grow in other locations can also interfere with other organ functions. Metastatic lung lesions can directly interfere with lung function or can help harbor infection or they can bleed. When aggressive cancer grows in multiple places within the body, there is no way to control these tumors with surgical removal. The "tumor burden" can start to change the way the entire body uses energy. If there are several pounds of rapidly growing tumor within the body, this usurps the bodily supplies of nutrients and energy molecules. The rest of the body suffers almost as if it were starving. This type of depletion leads to the inability to fight infections and heal injuries. The patient can, like you suggest, appear to have AIDS, although the types of problems that they suffer are not as bizarre as AIDS patients. Breast cancer growing in the bones can lead to fractures, while lesions in the lung can lead to fluid build up both inside and around the lung. Some patients who are suffering the ravages of disease but who are not yet being completely destroyed by it, end up bed-bound only to succumb to hospital type complications such as pneumonia or blood clots. Hospital type complications like this are a mode in which cancer causes death. Stage 2 cancer like you describe is frequently very controllable. The science of cancer therapy is advancing rapidly and we now know to look for specific markers in the make-up of the tumor which help indicate that certain therapies may be of benefit. Chemotherapy for breast cancer is often strongly effective now, and is much better tolerated then other versions were in the past. Surgical decisions are also informed with a tremendous amount of data. We know now how to do much smaller but equally effective operations compared to those that were done in the past. This is a rapidly advancing field in medicine. I hope that helps. Good luck! Feel free to contact me if you have specific questions.
11 :
It usually spreads. It hits the lungs first.
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