About Breast Cancer
What is Breast Cancer?
In order to properly treat and one day cure breast cancer, it is important to understand what breast cancer really is. In short, breast cancer is a disease that affects the cells of the breast. Breasts, like the rest of the body, are made up of millions of cells. When the body is attacked by cancer, cells will grow abnormally and either circulate in the blood or immune system, or form lumps and tumours.
When these abnormal cells grow, they can form lumps in the body that are either benign or malignant. Benign growths will grow to a certain size, but will not spread to other parts of the body, and they are not usually life-threatening. Malignant (cancerous) tumours do not stop growing when they reach a certain size, and can pose serious danger to the body. They can attack surrounding tissues and possibly spread to other parts of the body where they will metastasize, or create new tumours. It is the process of metastatic growth in other areas of the body that is the most harmful.
The majority of breast cancers start in the glandular tissue of the breast, called adenocarcinoma, and the most common form of breast cancer is ductal carcinoma, which is in the milk ducts of the breast. While ductal carcinoma breast cancer is the most common, there are also other types of breast cancers that affect the body in different ways, such as inflammatory breast cancer.
For more information about breast cancer including its stages, causes, prevention & detection, treatment & care as well as living with breast cancer, please click the next button.
Inflammatory Breast Cancer
Inflammatory Breast Cancer looks different than other forms of beast cancer, mainly because the breast appears swollen or infected, and it often occurs without any well-defined lumps. Five percent of breast cancer cases fall under this category. Due to the symptoms of this type of breast cancer, mammograms are not the most effective way of diagnosis, and a biopsy is usually necessary.
Inflammatory breast cancers grow very rapidly and spread to other parts of the body early on. Like other types of cancer, chemotherapy is usually the first type of treatment considered. Mastectomy and radiation therapy are also used to treat inflammatory breast cancer.
The Stages of Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is staged according to its development in the body. After the healthcare team reviews the tumour’s details, such as size, characteristics, and whether it has spread to other areas of the body, they are able to determine the nature of the illness, as well as the available treatment options. Staging provides information on risk of recurrence and the best course of action in treating the cancer.
There are two methods used in staging breast cancer, the Stage 0 to IV method, and the TNM method (Tumour Node Metastasis). The more serious the cancer, the higher the stage number will be.
What causes breast cancer?
There is no one thing that causes breast cancer, but there are some common factors that seem to increase the risk of developing it. One of the most common risk factors of being diagnosed with breast cancer is being a female, as 75 - 80% of breast cancer cases occur in women with no other risk factor than being a woman (Canadian Cancer Society 2005). As a woman or a man ages, the incidences of breast cancer increases.
Family history also plays a role in whether an individual will develop breast cancer. If any immediate family members have been diagnosed with breast cancer before menopause, there may be a higher risk of developing the disease.
See the next few pages for breast cancer prevention & detection.