Breast Cancer
What is Breast Cancer?
1 in 9 women will have breast cancer at some time in their life. Breast cancer accounts for nearly one third of all cancers in women. There are 41,000 new cases of breast cancer each year.Cancer of the breast becomes common with age, with approximately 80% of breast cancers occurring in women over the age of 50. In breast cancer the cells in part of the breast grow in a chaotic way. Instead of growing and dividing in a regular way, they become out of control. If the cancer is not treated, the cells can spread within the breast or even break off and travel to other parts of the body.
If the cancer cells have not spread at all, not even into the surrounding breast tissue, this is called non-invasive breast cancer.
Depending on whether the cancer cells develop in the ducts or lobes of the breast, these cancers are called ductal carcinomas in situ or lobular carcinomas in situ.
If the cancer cells have spread into the surrounding breast tissue, this is called invasive breast cancer and this is what is usually meant when people talk about breast cancer. Invasive breast cancer can be of different stages depending on how deep it is, if it has spread to the lymph glands in the armpit or if it has spread further within the body.
Various factors are thought to increase the risk of breast cancer. These include:
- A close relative with a history of breast cancer.
- Early start to menstruation (before the age of 11) and late menopause (after age 54)
- Having a first child late
- Having no/few children
- Not breastfeeding long term
- Having benign breast disease in the past
- Exposure to radiation
- High fat intake
- Obesity and
- Moderate to heavy drinking of alcohol.
Oral birth control pills and hormone replacement therapy may very slightly increase the risk of breast cancer.
Breast Cancer Symptoms
Early breast cancer usually doesn't cause symptoms. But as the tumor grows, it can change how the breast looks or feels. The common changes include:- A lump or thickening in or near the breast or in the underarm area
- A change in the size or shape of the breast
- Dimpling or puckering in the skin of the breast
- A nipple turned inward into the breast
- Discharge (fluid) from the nipple, especially if it's bloody
- Scaly, red, or swollen skin on the breast, nipple, or areola (the dark area of skin at the center of the breast). The skin may have ridges or pitting so that it looks like the skin of an orange.
