Breast Cancer Information

What Is Breast Cancer?

Breast cancer is a malignant tumor, mostly encountered in women, that begins in cells from the breast. A woman's breast is made up of lobules (glands that make milk), ducts (tiny tubes that link lobules to nipples), fatty and connective tissue, blood and lymph vessels. Usually, cancer begins in the ducts, but it can also begin in the lobules or other tissues.  

Lymph vessels are very similar to veins, except for the fact that they do not carry blood, but lymph. Lymph is a transparent liquid that carries immune system cells, as well as waste products. They lead to a group of cells called lymph nodes. Most of the lymph vessels from the breast lead to the lymph under the arm, which are called axillary nodes.

If breast cancer cells get to the axillary nodes and keep growing, they can lead to a swelling of the nodes. Once cancer has reached underarm nodes, it is more likely to spread further and reach other organs and tissues.

Benign Breast Lump

Many women get breast lumps which are benign, meaning they are not cancer. Benign tumors are abnormal growths to, but they do not spread to other organs and are not that dangerous. However, they can increase the risk of developing breast cancer.

Types of Breast Cancer

Carcinoma in Situ
This expression refers to the early stage of breast cancer, before it breaks out from the organ where it started. In breast cancer, it is limited to the ducts or the lobules and hasn't spread to the fatty tissue or to other tissues outside the breast.

Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS)

DCIS is the most common type of early stage breast cancer. It means that the cancer hasn't spread outside the ducts. At this point, most women can be cured. The most effectiveway to discover DCIS is to have a mammogram.

Lobular Carcinoma in Situ (LCIS)

LCIS starts in the lobules and doesn't spread outside their walls. Though it's not actually a cancer, it increases the risk for developing the disease later on. This is why it's important for women with LCIS to be tested for breast cancer regularly.

Infiltrating Ductal Carcinoma (IDC)

This is the most common type of breast cancer. It begins in the duct and then infiltrates in the fatty tissue as well and can spread further to other organs.

Infiltrating Lobular Carcinoma (ILC)

ILC starts in the lobules and can spread further to other organs and tissues of the body.

How Many Women Get Breast Cancer?

Breast cancer is the most frequent type of cancer among women, except for skin cancer. It is also one of the most important causes of cancer death in women, the second after lung cancer.

In the United States, about 212,920 women are likely to develop infiltrating breast cancer in 2006 and 40,970 will probably die from it this year. Currently there are over 2 million women only in the United States who have received treatment for breast cancer.

About 1 in 8 women develops breast cancer at some point in her life and 1 in 33 dies from it. Fortunately, the rate of breast cancer death is constantly decreasing due to the improvement of methods to discover it in time and treat it successfully.