What Is Breast Cancer?

BREAST CANCER:-Breast cancer is a disease in which cells in the breast grow out of control. There are different kinds of breast cancer. The kind of breast cancer depends on which cells in the breast turn into cancer.ancer can begin in different parts of the breast. A breast is made up of three main parts: ducts, and connective tissue. The glands that produce milk. The ducts are tubes that carry milk to the nipple. The connective tissue (which consists of fibrous and fatty tissue) surrounds and holds everything together. Most breast cancers begin in the ducts or lobules.

Breast cancer can spread outside the breast through blood vessels and lymph vessels. When cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it is said to have metastasized.

TYPES OF BREAST CANCER:-

The most common kinds of breast cancer are—

Invasive ductal carcinoma. The cancer cells begin in the ducts and then grow outside the ducts into other parts of the breast tissue. cancer cells can also spread, or metastasize, to other parts of the body.

Invasive lobular carcinoma. Cancer cells begin in the lobules and then spread from the breast tissues that are close by. These cancer cells can also spread to other parts of the body.

SYMPTOMS:-

New lump in the breast or underarm (armpit).

swelling of part of the breast.

dimpling of breast skin.

flaky skin in the nipple area or the breast.

In the or pain in the nipple area.

discharge other than breast milk, including blood.

Any change in the size or the shape of the breast.

Pain in any area of the breast.

FACTORS OF BREAST CANCER:--

Getting older. The risk for breast cancer increases with age. Most breast cancers are diagnosed after age 50.

mutations. Women who have inherited changes (mutations) to certain genes, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, are at higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

History. Starting menstrual periods before age 12 and starting menopause after age 55 expose women to hormones longer, raising their risk of getting breast cancer.

dense breasts. Dense breasts have more connective tissue than fatty tissue, which can sometimes make it hard to see tumors on a mammogram. Women with dense breasts are more likely to get breast cancer.

Personal history of breast cancer or certain non-cancerous breast diseases. Women who have had breast cancer are more likely to get breast cancer a second time. Some non-cancerous breast diseases such as atypical hyperplasia or lobular carcinoma in situ are associated with a higher risk of getting breast cancer.

Family history of breast or ovarian cancer. A woman’s risk for breast cancer is higher if she has a mother, sister, or daughter (first-degree relative) or multiple family members on either her mother’s or father’s side of the family who have had breast or ovarian cancer. Having a first-degree male relative with breast cancer also raises a woman’s risk.

Previous treatment using radiation therapy. Women who had radiation therapy to the chest or breasts (for instance, treatment of Hodgkin’s lymphoma) before age 30 have a higher risk of getting breast cancer later in life.

Exposure to the drug diethylstilbestrol (DES).external icon DES was given to some pregnant women in the United States between 1940 and 1971 to prevent miscarriage. Women who took DES, or whose mothers took DES while pregnant with them, have a higher risk of getting breast cancer.

TREATMENT OF BREAST CANCER:--

Surgery. An operation where doctors cut out cancer tissue.

Chemotherapy. Using special medicines to shrink or kill the cancer cells. The drugs can be pills you take or medicines given in your veins, or sometimes both.

Hormonal therapy. Blocks cancer cells from getting the hormones they need to grow.

Biological therapy. Works with your body’s immune system to help it fight cancer cells or to control side effects from other cancer treatments.

Radiation therapy. Using high-energy rays (similar to X-rays) to kill the cancer cells.