"why did I get breast cancer" starting to be answered & it seems to be 80% bad luck
 

(the remainder being due to the environment & genetic predisposition) ALTHOUGH I would interpret this differently pointing out it may be that as a bad environment, radiation exposure, or genes which make repair of environmental damage harder or the immune system less robust , etc it takes the combined with 'BAD LUCK increases the likelihood of cancer and until we recognize all of the environmental and genetic causes of increased risk we canno put numbers on these grouos of those more or less likely to be affected.

I added an excerpt from an an editotial/commentary whose conclusions each and every one of you are equally entitled to comment on...


ABSTRACT: Variation in cancer risk among tissues can be explained by the number of stem cell divisions
[Sciencee]
Some tissue types give rise to human cancers millions of times more often than other tissue types. Although this has been recognized for more than a century, it has never been explained. Here, we show that the lifetime risk of cancers of many different types is strongly correlated (0.81) with the total number of divisions of the normal self-renewing cells maintaining that tissue’s homeostasis. These results suggest that only a third of the variation in cancer risk among tissues is attributable to environmental factors or inherited predispositions. The majority is due to “bad luck,” that is, random mutations arising during DNA replication in normal, noncancerous stem cells. This is important not only for understanding the disease but also for designing strategies to limit the mortality it causes.

OPEN ACCESS: COMMENTARY: The Implications of "Random Chance" in Cancer Genesis
[JAMA Oncology]
The way to address this is to reconcile the 2 views: bad luck among the stem cells does not imply that the cancer, or the life it affects, has no meaning. The process may be random, but the meaning is in the life and not the disease process. The meaning is in the cherished families, friends, and life’s work left behind. Certainly, we should heed the lessons of epidemiology with regard to behaviors, but let us lift the burden of cancer diagnosis and survivorship from our patients’ shoulders. Cancer is an intricate and complicated biological process. People do not die from it because they are weak soldiers.

Let us advise wariness in the face of societal messages that demand extremes of diet, weight, intake of natural or unnatural substances, exercise, attitude, and an avoidance of stress—whatever that means. Perhaps one day some of these factors will be linked to a reduction in DNA transcription errors—or just as likely, an increase in them. In the meantime, abjure the colonic enemas.

It is perfectly fine for cancer in the abstract to be stochastic; but cancer in the individual should not be deprived of meaning. We need not reject the randomness of mutation-caused cancer, if that is where the science leads, but we can still believe in the deep meaningfulness of the cancer-affected life.

Re: "why did I get breast cancer" starting to be answered & it seems to be 80% bad lu
 

Humans have an overwhelming need to understand the things that happen to them and explain it. We also need a sense of mastery or control, including road maps for avoiding or ameliorating life-threatening circumstances. A huge percentage of human culture arises from these needs.

I especially appreciate the comments from JAMA Oncology. It shows a degree of sensitivity that is rare, especially in scientific disciplines. I especially love the sentence that starts with "Let us advise wariness. . . ."

I'm with you, Lani. I'm not sure we can conclude that 80% of the risk is from random, uncontrollable causes.

Re: "why did I get breast cancer" starting to be answered & it seems to be 80% bad lu
 

Omg! Some common sense observations! Thank you for sharing
I always feel bad for people who spend so much time on "why" and finding obscure cause/ effect. I've always felt, as my diagnostic doctor said, " it's the cards you were dealt"
Keep the faith

Re: "why did I get breast cancer" starting to be answered & it seems to be 80% bad lu
 

Thank you for sharing. Of all the reasons I came up with that I deserved to have cancer, I could point out all the people who would have the same reasons and no cancer, even my own mother. So I let that balloon go.

Re: "why did I get breast cancer" starting to be answered & it seems to be 80% bad lu
 

There are nutritional factors that increase one's risk, but they might be primitive of developing a malignancy and not the actual reason the "break" happened.

I did extended breastfeeding of two children and became very depleted. In a way I represent an extreme since I had a draw on my system for many years, in spite of a decent diet. I've been able to understand more of my risk factors if only to try to address lifestyle and metabolic factors that were working against me such as chronic dehydration and how it affected my electrolyte levels and adrenals. I think getting more blood labs done to check for common deficiencies makes sense though.

I've been amazed at how often, for many medical conditions, nutritional deficits are never mentioned at all. Eating a better diet isn't going to make a damn chink in a deep magnesium or zinc deficit and folks won't know to even address the deficiency of they don't know it is there.

So yeah, it's not your fault but then you might not be making things better with your diet and lifestyle choices.

Re: "why did I get breast cancer" starting to be answered & it seems to be 80% bad lu
 

I don't feel that it is always a waste of time for people to wonder why something happened to them. It is human nature that we want to know why something bad happened so we can do better next time. There is a reason that our bodies have let cancer take over. The medical establishment does not want to deal with the causes. They don't even look. There is a lot we can do. In general, if something is not working out and you want to improve, you need to access the past and then make changes necessary for a better future. Nothing wrong with that.

Re: "why did I get breast cancer" starting to be answered & it seems to be 80% bad lu
 

Agness: were you negative for Estrogen and Progesterone? Your profile leaves that info out. ER- PR-? If you were, like me, negative for Estrogen and Progesterone in your initial diagnosis, then breastfeeding or being on the pill played zero part in your getting HER2 breast cancer.

Re: "why did I get breast cancer" starting to be answered & it seems to be 80% bad lu
 

I guess we want control over our lives and health. That makes life less scary. I remember traveling in Peru and Equador, in 1983, where locals seemed indifferent to the dangers of diseases and accidents. I asked them about it and someone explained: "We believe we have two lives as we reincarnate once. Life is so much easier to handle if we assume this is our first life, and as we are poor now, our next life will probably be better."
It gave them so much peace of mind. For a long time I was able to adopt their perspective on life. And then I had kids. Suddenly my survival was so much more important. I found my cancer when my youngest was 3 years old. This discussion has made me aware of this shift in my perspective. I couldn't go back to my South American way of looking at life, because my kids still need me.

Love

Jacqueline