Gene changes, environment fuelling breast cancers

Doctors say external variables may occasionally result in gene mutation that raise the risk of cancer even among healthy females

Genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors are driving breast cancers even among women who seem healthy, said oncologists, even as television actress Hina Khan recently announced her diagnosis with stage three breast cancer.

Known to be a fitness enthusiast, the Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai actress in an Instagram post said: "I have been diagnosed with Stage Three Breast Cancer".

"Stage 3 breast cancer is when the breast cancer either involves the skin or the underlying structures which we call the chest wall or the tumour are very big more than 5 cm in size or there are lymph nodes which are even seen in the neck," Dr Rohan Khandelwal, lead consultant and Head of the Breast Centre at CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram, told IANS.

The doctor recommended women with Stage 3 breast cancer a whole body scan or a PET scan to see whether the disease has not spread to any other part of the body.