Breast cancer is a malignant tumor which originates from the tissues of the breast, especially the milk ducts and the lobules of the breast. This disease is more common in women and very rarely found in men. In the U.S., it is the second most common type of cancer among women, right after the non-melanoma skin cancer. In fact, it accounts for 28% of all cancer cases in women. Here are several other interesting statistics of breast cancer in the United States:

1. Caucasian women have greater chance of getting breast cancer than African American women. However, survival rate is greater in Caucasian women since African American women tend to be infected with more aggressive cancer cells. However, the cause of the case remains unknown. Women from other ethnicities such as Native American, Asian, or Hispanic have lower risk of developing the cancer if compared to Caucasian or African American women.

2. It is also the second most lethal cancer in women, after lung cancer. In 2010, 39,840 women were estimated to die because of this disease. The number has declined significantly since 1990 thanks to improved medical technology, early screening of the disease, and women's self awareness.

3. Around 5 - 10% of all cases are linked to genetic factors. If a woman inherits abnormal genetic changes or gene mutation from her mother or father, her risk of developing the disease increases up to 80%.

4. Although genetic factors play an important role, about 80% of women who are diagnosed with the disease do not have breast cancer history in her family. The occurrence of the disease is more likely to be caused by gene mutation that happens as a result of the aging process instead of inheritance.

5. Between 1999 and 2006, the rate of the cancer occurrence decreased around 2% each year. It is believed to be the result of the reduced use of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). In 2002, a study entitled the Women's Health Initiative revealed that HRT increases the risk of breast cancer. Additionally, the therapy also increases the risk of uterine, ovarian, colorectal, and lung cancer.

6. 12% of U.S. women (about 1 in 8 women) are estimated to develop invasive or secondary breast cancer during the course of their lives. In 2010 alone, there were 207,090 new cases of this disease.

7. Meanwhile, 1,970 men were expected to develop the similar invasive type of cancer in 2010. This figure makes up roughly 1% of all new cases.

The statistics of breast cancer, especially about breast cancer occurrence and number of deaths caused, are continuously decreasing. Awareness about the disease as well advanced medical technologies are significant key factors to decrease the occurrence rate of the disease.

By David Dodiros

One common form of treatment today for localized prostate cancer is radiation therapy which uses high energy x-rays to kill cancer cells. These x-rays can either be delivered using an external radiation beam or by implanting radiation 'seeds' into the prostate gland.

External beam radiation therapy treatments are normally given on a daily basis 5 days a week (Monday to Friday) for anything up to about 6 or 7 weeks and each treatment, which is painless, lasts for just a few minutes. (Such treatments are also commonly given to patients whose cancer are no longer localized to the prostate gland but have spread into the pelvis and can also be used to relieve pain and reduce tumors in cases of advanced prostate cancer.)

In cases where tumors are large it is also common to give hormone treatment alongside radiation therapy in order to block the action of the male hormones which feed the growth of prostate cancer tumors. External beam radiation targets not only the prostate gland but also the seminal vesicles, to which prostate cancer can readily spread. In previous forms of this treatment it was also common to irradiate the pelvic lymph nodes but today this is only done in a minority of cases where evidence suggests that this is necessary.

There are generally few immediate side-effects to external beam radiation other than fatigue and possibly diarrhea when radiation is applied to the rectum, but both of these soon pass once treatment is completed.

Longer-term affects include impotence which affects about 40% to 50% of patients. This figure is however declining with the introduction of computer technology which now allows treatment to be tailored precisely to the anatomy of the patient with far more precise targeting than has previously been possible.

Turning to internal radiation therapy, this is a procedure in which dozens of tiny seeds are implanted directly into the prostate gland to deliver a high dose of radiation directly into the affected tissue.

Ultrasound is used to guide very thin needles from the perineum into the prostate gland to deposit the tiny seeds of palladium and iodine in a pattern which has previously been mapped using a very sophisticated computer program. One alternative approach is to use more powerful temporary seed implants which are introduced over several days and possibly to combine this with low dose external radiation therapy. This procedure does however require hospitalization.

Internal radiation therapy carries few side-effects and normally leads to impotence in less that 15% of patients under the age of 70. It is not however suitable for everybody, especially men with large tumors or those who have undergone a transurethral resection of the prostate for benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Do Men With Prostate Cancer Who Undergo Surgery Need Radiation Therapy, Too?
There are a number of treatment options for men with prostate cancer. These include a surgical procedure, known as radical prostatectomy, as well as radiation therapy. Are there any situations wherein a man who undergoes a radical prostatectomy will need radiation therapy afterwards?

The answer is yes, in special circumstances. The reason is that radiation therapy can increase the odds of survival for such men.

A recent study reviewed the data of 635 men with rising PSA levels after radical prostatectomy. In the study, 160 of the men received salvage radiation therapy, 78 received salvage radiation therapy and hormonal therapy (which lowers the level of prostate cancer stimulating male hormones in the blood stream), and 397 received no treatment.

Over the ensuing ten years, of the men who received salvage radiation therapy alone or radiation therapy plus hormonal therapy, the rate of death from prostate cancer was nearly 60% less than that of the men who were not treated.

Salvage radiation therapy is noted to be most beneficial for men with rising PSA levels when it is administered promptly after the problem is identified. In contrast, if radiation therapy for men with climbing PSA levels is deferred more than two years after the initial PSA spike, no benefit is noted.

Additional analysis revealed that the beneficial effect of salvage radiation therapy was confined to those men, whose PSA levels doubled in less than six months, suggesting that a rapid PSA doubling time is indicative of more aggressive disease.

Therefore, the good news is that for men whose PSA levels climb after radical prostatectomy, radiation therapy can be life saving.