Breast cancer is the commonest type of cancer that occurs in women and, after lung cancer, it is the second leading cause of cancer death in women. In 2004 no fewer than 186,770 new cases of breast cancer were reported according to the American Cancer Society and this number appears to be rising year on year.
It is also worthy of note that breast cancer is not confined only to women and that 1,815 men contracted the disease in 2004 and that 362 men died of breast cancer that year.
The breasts in women are complicated pieces of machinery comprising glands, fat and connective fibrous tissue. Each breast has numerous lobes which are divided into lobules and end in the milk glands and there are also a large number of tiny ducts from the milk glands that join together and end in the nipple.
Eighty percent of breast cancer cases start in these ducts in a condition referred to as infiltrating ductal cancer. It is also reasonably common for breast cancer to develop in the lobules where it is referred to as lobular cancer. Other types of cancer are referred to as inflammatory breast cancer.
Pre-cancerous changes (referred to as 'in situ') are also common in women and are changes that have not spread from the place in the breast where they were originally spotted. When these changes occur within the ducts then the condition is called ductal carcinoma in situ or DCIS and if changes occur in the lobules they are referred to as lobular carcinomas in situ or LCIS.
The most serious form of breast cancer is known as metastatic cancer which involves the spread of a cancer from the place where it began. Breast cancer most frequently metastasizes into the lymph nodes above the collarbone or under the arms on the same side of the body as the cancer which results in pain and swelling as the lymphatic drainage system is compromised. Other relatively common sites of breast cancer metastasis include the brain, liver and the bones.
Excluding the obvious factor of gender, age is a very important factor when looking at the risk of contracting breast cancer. In spite of the fact that breast cancer can and does occur at any age the risk of finding it increases with age. A healthy woman aged 30 will generally have a 1 in 280 chance of developing breast cancer during the next ten years of her life. However, this then rises to a probable 1 in 70 chance when that same women is in her forties.
Family history is also an important risk factor for breast cancer with the risk being at its highest when you have a close relative (like a mother or aunt) who has suffered from cancer of the breast at a young age.
It is also worthy of note that breast cancer is not confined only to women and that 1,815 men contracted the disease in 2004 and that 362 men died of breast cancer that year.
The breasts in women are complicated pieces of machinery comprising glands, fat and connective fibrous tissue. Each breast has numerous lobes which are divided into lobules and end in the milk glands and there are also a large number of tiny ducts from the milk glands that join together and end in the nipple.
Eighty percent of breast cancer cases start in these ducts in a condition referred to as infiltrating ductal cancer. It is also reasonably common for breast cancer to develop in the lobules where it is referred to as lobular cancer. Other types of cancer are referred to as inflammatory breast cancer.
Pre-cancerous changes (referred to as 'in situ') are also common in women and are changes that have not spread from the place in the breast where they were originally spotted. When these changes occur within the ducts then the condition is called ductal carcinoma in situ or DCIS and if changes occur in the lobules they are referred to as lobular carcinomas in situ or LCIS.
The most serious form of breast cancer is known as metastatic cancer which involves the spread of a cancer from the place where it began. Breast cancer most frequently metastasizes into the lymph nodes above the collarbone or under the arms on the same side of the body as the cancer which results in pain and swelling as the lymphatic drainage system is compromised. Other relatively common sites of breast cancer metastasis include the brain, liver and the bones.
Excluding the obvious factor of gender, age is a very important factor when looking at the risk of contracting breast cancer. In spite of the fact that breast cancer can and does occur at any age the risk of finding it increases with age. A healthy woman aged 30 will generally have a 1 in 280 chance of developing breast cancer during the next ten years of her life. However, this then rises to a probable 1 in 70 chance when that same women is in her forties.
Family history is also an important risk factor for breast cancer with the risk being at its highest when you have a close relative (like a mother or aunt) who has suffered from cancer of the breast at a young age.
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Breast cancer touches all too many lives these days and for those of you with questions about breast cancer then there can be no better place than http://breastcancertreatmentinformation.com to find the answers you need.
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