Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer in women and the second leading cause of cancer death in women. Breast cancer is cancer that forms in the cells of the breasts.
After skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women in the United States. Breast cancer can occur in both men and women, but it’s far more common in women. Typically, the cancer forms in either the lobules or the ducts of the breast.
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Lobules are the glands that produce milk, and ducts are the pathways that bring the milk from the glands to the nipple. Cancer can also occur in the fatty tissue or the fibrous connective tissue within your breast. The uncontrolled cancer cells often invade other healthy breast tissue and can travel to the lymph nodes under the arms.
The lymph nodes are a primary pathway that help the cancer cells move to other parts of the body. In its early stages, breast cancer may not cause any symptoms. In many cases, a tumor may be too small to be felt, but an abnormality can still be seen on a mammogram. If a tumor can be felt, the first sign is usually a new lump in the breast that was not there before. However, not all lumps are cancer.
Symptoms:
Each type of breast cancer can cause a variety of symptoms. Many of these symptoms are similar, but some can be different. Symptoms for the most common breast cancers include,
A breast lump or tissue thickening that feels different than surrounding tissue and has developed recently, Breast pain, Red and pitted skin over your entire breast, Swelling in all or part of your breast.
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A nipple discharge other than breast milk, Bloody discharge from your nipple, Peeling, scaling, or flaking of skin on your nipple or breast a sudden, unexplained change in the shape or size of your breast, Inverted nipple, Changes to the appearance of the skin on your breasts and a lump or swelling under your arm.
If someone have any of these symptoms, it doesn’t necessarily mean she has breast cancer. For instance, pain in the breast or a breast lump can be caused by a benign cyst. Still, if shr finds a lump in the breast or have other symptoms, she could consult a doctor for further examination and testing.
Causes
After puberty, a woman’s breast consists of fat, connective tissue, and thousands of lobules. These are tiny glands that produce milk for breastfeeding.
Tiny tubes, or ducts, carry the milk toward the nipple. Cancer causes the cells to multiply uncontrollably. They do not die at the usual point in their life cycle.
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This excessive cell growth causes cancer because the tumor uses nutrients and energy and deprives the cells around it. Breast cancer usually starts in the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply them with milk. From there, it can spread to other parts of the body.
Types
There are several different types of breast cancer, including, Ductal carcinoma which begins in the milk duct and is the most common type and Lobular carcinoma which starts in the lobules.
Invasive breast cancer occurs when the cancer cells break out from inside the lobules or ducts and invade nearby tissue. This increases the chance of cancer spreading to other parts of the body. Noninvasive breast cancer develops when the cancer remains inside its place of origin and has not yet spread. However, these cells can sometimes progress to invasive breast cancer.
Treatment:
Breast cancer treatments are getting better all the time, and people have many more options today than ever before. With so many choices, it’s a good idea to learn as much as you can about the ones that can help you the most. No matter which ones you choose, all breast cancer treatments have two main goals.
To rid the body of as much of the cancer as possible and to prevent the disease from coming back. Some treatments remove or destroy the disease within the breast and nearby tissues, such as lymph nodes.
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These include surgery to remove the whole breast, called a mastectomy, or to remove just the tumor and tissues around it, called a lumpectomy or breast-conserving surgery. There are different types of mastectomies and lumpectomies. Radiation therapy, which uses high-energy waves to kill cancer cells. Other treatments destroy or control cancer cells all over the body.