Cancer Studies > cancer > Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer in women and the second most common cause of cancer deaths in women in the U.S. Although the majority of new breast cancer are diagnosed as caused by an abnormality seen on a mammogram, a lump or a change in consistency of the breast tissue can also be a warning sign of the disease. Awareness of the risk of breast cancer in recent decades has led to an increase in the number of women in a mammography screening, leading to the discovery of cancer in the earlier stages and a resultant improvement in survival. Yet breast cancer is the most common cause of death in women between the ages of 45 and 55. Although breast cancer in women is a common form of cancer, male breast cancer does occur and accounts for approximately 1% of all cancer deaths in men.
Research has yielded much information about the causes of breast cancer, and it is now believe that genetic and / or hormonal factors are the main risk factors for breast cancer. Staging systems have been developed for physicians to the extent that the cancer has spread and make decisions on treatment options characterize. The treatment of breast cancer depends on many factors, including three types of cancer and the extent to which it has spread. Treatment options for breast cancer may involve surgery (removal of the cancer alone or, in some cases, mastectomy), radiation, hormonal therapy, and / or chemotherapy.
With advances in screening, diagnosis and treatment, the mortality rate for breast cancer decreased by about 20% in the past decade, research in progress and an even better screening and treatment programs to develop.
How Breast Cancer Designed
The breasts sit on the chest muscles that cover the ribs. Each breast is made of 15 to 20 lobes. Lobes contain many smaller lobules. Lobules contain groups of small glands that can produce milk. Milk flows from the lobules through thin tubes called ducts to the nipple. The nipple is in the middle of a dark area of skin called the areola. Fat fills the spaces between the lobes and ducts.
The breasts also contain lymph vessels. These vessels lead to small, round organs called lymph nodes. Groups of lymph are nodes near the breast in the axilla (underarm), above the collarbone in the chest behind the breastbone, and in many other parts of the body. The lymph nodes trap bacteria, cancer, or other harmful substances.
The Cancer Process
Cancer begins in cells, the building blocks from which tissues. Tissues make up the organs of the body.
Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells go age, they die and new cells take their place.
Sometimes this orderly process goes wrong. New cells form when the body does not need them and old cells do not die when they should. These extra cells can form a mass of tissue called a growth or tumor. Tumors can be benign or malignant:
Benign tumors are not cancer:
- Benign tumors are rarely life threatening.
- In general, benign tumors are removed. They tend not to grow.
- Cells from benign tumors do not invade the tissues around them are not.
- Cells from benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body.
Malignant tumors are cancer:
- Malignant tumors are generally more serious than benign tumors. They can be life threatening.
- Malignant tumors often can be removed. But sometimes they grow back.
- Cells from malignant tumors can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs.
- Cells from malignant tumors can spread () spread to other parts of the body. Cancer cells spread by breaking the original (primary) tumor and entering the bloodstream and lymphatic system. The cells invade other organs and form new tumors that damage these organs. The spread of cancer is called metastasis.
When cancer cells spread, the cancer cells are often found in the lymph nodes near the breast. Breast cancer also may spread to almost any other part of the body. The most common are the bones, liver, lungs and brains. The new tumor has the same kind of abnormal cells and the same name as the primary tumor. For example, if breast cancer spreads to the bones, the cancer cells in the bones are actually breast cancer cells. The disease is metastatic breast cancer, not bone cancer. For this reason it is treated as breast cancer, not bone cancer. Doctors call the new tumor “distant” or metastatic disease.
Risk Factors for Breast Cancer
Nobody knows the exact causes of breast cancer. Doctors often cannot explain why one woman develops breast cancer and the other not. They know that bumps, bruises, or touching the breast does not cause cancer. And breast cancer is not contagious. You cannot capture of another person.
Research has shown that women with certain risk factors are more likely than others to develop breast cancer. A risk factor is something that may increase the risk of developing a disease.
Studies have the following risk factors for breast cancer:
- Age: The chance of getting breast cancer increases as a woman ages. Most cases of breast cancer occur in women over 60. This disease is not common before menopause.
- Personal history of breast cancer: A woman who breast cancer in one breast have an increased risk of getting cancer in her other breast.
- Family history: a woman’s risk of breast cancer is higher if her mother, sister, or daughter had breast cancer. The risk is higher if her family got breast cancer before age 40. Having other relatives with breast cancer (in either her mother or father’s family) can also increase the risk of a woman.
- Certain breast changes: Some women have cells in the breast that look abnormal under a microscope. After certain types of abnormal cells (atypical hyperplasia and lobular carcinoma in situ [LCIS]) increases the risk of breast cancer.
- Gene changes: Changes in certain genes the risk of breast cancer. These genes are BRCA1, BRCA2, and others. Tests can sometimes show the presence of specific genetic changes in families with many women who have had breast cancer. Caregivers may suggest ways to try to reduce the risk of breast cancer, or for the detection of this disease in women who change their genes to increase.
- Reproductive and menstrual history: The older a woman is when her first child, the greater her risk of breast cancer. Women who their first menstruation before age 12 has an increased risk of breast cancer. Women who went through menopause after age 55 have an increased risk of breast cancer. Women who never have children at increased risk of breast cancer. Women who are menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen plus progestin after menopause also appear to have an increased risk of breast cancer. Large, well-designed studies have shown no link between abortion or miscarriage and breast cancer.
- Race: Breast cancer is more common in white women than Latina, Asian, or African American women diagnosed.
- Radiotherapy to the chest: Women who had radiation to the chest (including breasts) before age 30 have an increased risk of breast cancer. This includes women treated with radiation for Hodgkin lymphoma. Studies show that the younger a woman was when she received radiation, the higher her risk of breast cancer later in life.
- Breast density: Breast tissue may be dense or fatty acids. Older women whose mammograms (breast x-rays) show denser an increased risk of breast cancer.
- Taking DES (diethylstilbestrol): DES was given to some pregnant women in the United States between about 1940 and 1971. (It is no longer given to pregnant women.) Women who took DES during pregnancy part is a slightly increased risk of breast cancer. The possible effects on their daughters are under study.
- Because overweight or obese after menopause: The chance of getting breast cancer after menopause is higher in women who are overweight or obese.
- Lack of exercise: Women who are physically inactive throughout life may have an increased risk of breast cancer. Active can help reduce risk by preventing weight gain and obesity.
- Drinking alcohol: Studies suggest that the more a woman drinks alcohol, the greater her risk of breast cancer.
Other possible risk factors are in study. Researchers studying the effects of diet exercise and genetics on breast cancer risk. They are also studying whether certain substances in the environment may increase the risk of breast cancer.
Many risk factors can be avoided. Others, such as family history, cannot be avoided. Women can help protect themselves by staying away from known risk factors whenever possible.
But it is also important to bear in mind that most women with known risk factors do not get breast cancer. Also, most women with breast cancer have a family history of the disease. In fact, except the older, most women with breast cancer have no obvious risk factors.
If you think you are in danger, you should discuss these concerns with your doctor. Your doctor may be able ways to reduce your risk and a timetable for the plan check-ups suggest.
Related posts:
- Breast Cancer Facts
- Breast Cancer Information
- What Is Cancer Term?
- Breast Cancer Recurrence
- Breast Cancer Diagnosis
- Early Detection of Breast Cancer
- Breast Cancer Staging
- Ductal Breast Cancer
- Metastatic Breast Cancer
- Breast Cancer News
breast cancer prevention, breast cancer prognosis, breast cancer radiation, breast cancer recurrence, breast cancer risk, breast cancer stages, breast cancer surgery, breast cancer survivors, breast cancer treatment