Breast Cancer—Breast Cancer

Breast cancer affects one in eight women during their lives. No one knows why some women get breast cancer, but there are many risk factors. Risks that you cannot change include

• Age – the risk rises as you get older
• Genes – two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, greatly increase the risk. Women who have family members with breast or ovarian cancer may wish to be tested for the genes.
• Personal factors – beginning periods before age 12 or going through menopause after age 55

Other risks include obesity, using hormone replacement therapy (also called menopausal hormone therapy), taking birth control pills, drinking alcohol, not having children or having your first child after age 35, and having dense breasts.

Symptoms of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in size or shape of the breast, and discharge from a nipple. Breast self-exams and mammography can help find breast cancer early, when it is most treatable. One possible treatment is surgery. It could be a lumpectomy or a mastectomy. Other treatments include radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and targeted therapy. Targeted therapy uses substances that attack cancer cells without harming normal cells.

Men can have breast cancer, too, but it is rare.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

• After chemotherapy – discharge (Medical Encyclopedia)
• BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene testing (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Breast biopsy — stereotactic (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Breast biopsy — ultrasound (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Breast cancer (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Breast cancer staging (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Breast lump (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Breast self exam (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Hormone therapy for breast cancer (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Understanding Chemotherapy – NIH – Easy-to-Read (National Cancer Institute) – PDF
• What to Know about Brachytherapy (A Type of Internal Radiation Therapy) – NIH – Easy-to-Read (National Cancer Institute) – PDF
• What to Know about External Beam Radiation Therapy – NIH – Easy-to-Read (National Cancer Institute) – PDF

Breast cancer is a disease in which certain cells in the breast become abnormal and multiply uncontrollably to form a tumor. Although breast cancer is much more common in women, this form of cancer can also develop in men. In both women and men, the most common form of breast cancer begins in cells lining the milk ducts (ductal cancer). In women, cancer can also develop in the glands that produce milk (lobular cancer). Most men have little or no lobular tissue, so lobular cancer in men is very rare.In its early stages, breast cancer usually does not cause pain and may exhibit no noticeable symptoms. As the cancer progresses, signs and symptoms can include a lump or thickening in or near the breast; a change in the size or shape of the breast; nipple discharge, tenderness, or retraction (turning inward); and skin irritation, dimpling, or scaliness. However, these changes can occur as part of many different conditions. Having one or more of these symptoms does not mean that a person definitely has breast cancer.In some cases, cancerous tumors can invade surrounding tissue and spread to other parts of the body. If breast cancer spreads, cancerous cells most often appear in the bones, liver, lungs, or brain. Tumors that begin at one site and then spread to other areas of the body are called metastatic cancers.A small percentage of all breast cancers cluster in families. These cancers are described as hereditary and are associated with inherited gene mutations. Hereditary breast cancers tend to develop earlier in life than noninherited (sporadic) cases, and new (primary) tumors are more likely to develop in both breasts.