An Introduction to the Mystery of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer that occurs in women and, after lung cancer, it is the second leading cause of cancer death in females. In 2004 some 186,772 new breast cancer cases were reported according to the American Cancer Society and this number appears to be going up on a yearly basis.

It should also be noted that breast cancer is not restricted only to women and that some more than 1,800 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 fat, glands and connective fibrous tissue. Each breast has several lobes which are divided into lobules ending 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.

Eight out of ten breast cancer cases start in these ducts and this condition is known as infiltrating ductal cancer. It is also quite common for breast cancer to occur in the lobules where it is referred to as lobular cancer. Other forms of cancer are simply referred to as inflammatory breast cancer.

Pre-cancerous changes (known as 'in situ') are also commonly seen in women and are changes that have not yet spread from the area of the breast where they started. When these changes are noted within the ducts then the condition is referred to as ductal carcinoma in situ or DCIS and where the changes are found in the lobules they are known as lobular carcinomas in situ or LCIS.

The most serious form of breast cancer is metastatic cancer which involves the spread of a cancer from its original site of growth. It generally metastasizes into the lymph nodes above the collarbone or under the arms on the same side of the body as the cancer which leads to pain and swelling to the affected area as the lymphatic drainage system becomes compromised. Other fairly common sites for breast cancer metastasis include the brain, liver and bones.

Besides the very obvious factor of gender, age is another critical factor when it comes to breast cancer. Although breast cancer can develop at any age the risk of getting it certainly rises as you get older. A healthy woman aged 30 will usually have a 1 in 280 chance of developing breast cancer by the time she reaches 40. However, this risk then increases to a probable 1 in 70 chance when that same women reaches 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 (such as a mother or aunt) who has developed cancer of the breast at a young age.

Although it has yet to be confirmed, there is thought to be a cancer gene that can be passed down from mother to daughter.

Breast cancer touches all too many lives these days and for those of us with breast cancer questions then there can be no better place than BreastCancerTreatmentInformation.com to find the answers we are seeking.