Breast cancer awareness month

What Is Breast Cancer?


While it’s celebrated during the month of October, breast cancer awareness is really a year-round issue. Until there's a cure, a vital part of the breast cancer discussion should include the anatomy of the breast, as well as how cancer can happen in the first place.

Breast 101

The normal breast consists of milk-producing glands that are connected to the surface of the skin at the nipple by narrow ducts. The glands and ducts are supported by connective tissue made up of fat and fibrous material. Blood vessels, nerves, and channels to the lymph nodes make up most of the rest of the breast tissue. All the breast anatomy mentioned above sits under the skin, but on top of the chest muscles.

How Does Breast Cancer Happen?

As in all forms of cancer, the abnormal tissue that makes up breast cancer is the patient's own cells that have multiplied too rapidly. Those cells may also travel to locations in the body where they are not normally needed, which means the cancer is malignant.

• Breast cancer develops in the breast tissue, primarily in the milk ducts (ductal carcinoma) or glands (lobular carcinoma). The cancer is still called and treated as breast cancer even if it is first discovered after traveling to other areas of the body such as the lungs, liver, or bones. In those cases, the cancer is referred to as metastatic or advanced breast cancer.

• Breast cancer usually begins with the formation of a small, confined tumor (lump), or as calcium deposits (microcalcifications) and then spreads through channels to the lymph nodes or through the blood stream to other organs.

• The tumor may also grow and invade tissue around the breast, such as the skin or chest wall. Different types of breast cancer grow and spread at different rates - some take years to spread beyond the breast while other move quickly.

• Some lumps are benign (not cancerous), however these can be premalignant. The only safe way to distinguish between a benign lump and cancer is to have the tissue examined by a doctor.

• Men can get breast cancer, too, but they account for less than one-half of one percent of all cases.

What Causes Breast Cancer?

Although the exact causes of breast cancer are still unclear, doctors do understand the main risk factors. Among the most significant factors are advancing age and a family history of breast cancer. Risk increases slightly for a woman who has had a benign breast lump and increases significantly for a woman who has previously had breast cancer or a history of endometrial, ovarian, or colon cancer.

Other risk factors include:

• Family - A woman whose mother, sister, or daughter has had breast cancer is two to three times more likely to develop the disease, particularly if more than one first-degree relative has been affected. This is especially true if the cancer developed in the woman while she was premenopausal, or if the cancer developed in both breasts.

• Age/Race - Generally, women over 50 are more likely to get breast cancer than younger women, and black women are more likely than Caucasians to get breast cancer before menopause.

• Estrogen -A link between breast cancer and hormones is gradually becoming clearer. Researchers think that the greater a woman's exposure to the hormone estrogen, the more susceptible she is to breast cancer. Estrogen tells cells to divide; the more the cells divide, the more likely they are to be abnormal in some way, possibly becoming cancerous. Current information about the effect of birth control pills and breast cancer risk is mixed. Some studies have found that the hormones in birth control pills probably do not increase breast cancer risk. However other studies suggest that the risk of breast cancer is increased in women who have taken birth control pills recently, regardless of how long she has taken them.

• Diet- The link between diet and breast cancer is debated. Obesity is a noteworthy risk factor, predominately in postmenopausal women, because obesity alters a woman's estrogen levels. Drinking alcohol regularly - more than 2 to 3 drinks a day - may also promote the disease. Many studies have shown that women whose diets are high in fat, either from red meat or high-fat dairy products, are more likely to get the disease. Researchers suspect that if a woman lowers her daily calories from fat - to less than 20%-30% - her diet may help protect her from developing breast cancer.

Can You Survive Breast Cancer?

Among women, breast cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths behind lung cancer. Black women tend to have the highest breast cancer death rates.

Two-thirds of women with breast cancer are over 50, and most of the rest are between 39 and 49.

Fortunately, breast cancer is very treatable if detected early. Localized tumors can usually be treated successfully before the cancer spreads; and in nine in 10 cases, the woman will live at least another five years. Experts usually consider a five-year survival to be a cure although recurrences after five years are common.

Once the cancer begins to spread, getting rid of it completely is more difficult, although treatment can often control the disease for years. Improved screening procedures and treatment options mean that at least seven out of 10 women with breast cancer will survive more than five years after initial diagnosis, and half will survive more than 10 years.

Top Breast Cancer Screening Tips:

• All women: Conduct consistent, monthly self-exams seven to ten days after the start of the menstrual cycle. For post-menopausal women, select one day of the month and consistently conduct a self-exam on that day.

• Women with no family history of breast cancer: Have a baseline mammogram screening at 35, then regular mammogram screenings every year after 40.

• Women with a family history of breast cancer: Baseline mammogram 10 years before youngest member diagnosed with breast cancer.

• black women under the age of 40 with a palpable breast mass: Insist on getting evaluated with a mammogram or ultrasound. Seek out a breast specialist if necessary.


Photo credit: www.dazzlejunction.com