A Quick Glance Into The Mysterious World Of Breast Cancer - By: Don Saunders

Breast cancer is the commonest type of cancer in women and, behind lung cancer, it is the second leading cause of cancer death among women. In 2004 some 186,772 new cases of breast cancer were reported according to the American Cancer Society and this figure would seem to be rising year on year.

It is also worthy of note that breast cancer is not confined solely to women and that more than 1,800 men were also diagnosed with the disease in 2004 and 362 men died of breast cancer that year.

Women's breasts are complicated pieces of machinery which consist of fat, glands and connective fibrous tissue. Each breast has numerous lobes which are split into lobules and end in the milk glands and there are also numerous tiny ducts from the milk glands that join together and end in the nipple.

Eighty percent of breast cancer cases occur in these ducts in a condition referred to as infiltrating ductal cancer. It is also reasonably common for cancer to originate in the lobules where it is known as lobular cancer. Other forms of cancer are simply known as inflammatory breast cancer.

Changes such as pre-cancerous changes (referred to as 'in situ') are also very common in women and are changes that have not yet spread from the area of the breast where they were originally spotted. When these changes take place within the ducts then the condition is known as ductal carcinoma in situ or DCIS and where the changes are found in the lobules they are referred to as lobular carcinomas in situ or LCIS.

The most serious type of breast cancer is known as metastatic cancer which involves the spread of a cancer from the place where it began. Breast cancer most commonly metastasizes into the lymph nodes above the collarbone or under the arms on the same side as the cancer which produces pain and swelling as the lymphatic drainage system becomes compromised. Other relatively common sites for breast cancer metastasis are the liver, brain and the bones.

Aside from the obvious factor of gender, age is another critical factor when looking at the risk of contracting breast cancer. Although breast cancer can appear at just about any age the risk of getting it certainly rises with age. A healthy woman aged 30 will normally have a 1 in 280 chance of developing breast cancer by the time she reaches 40 years of age. However, this risk then increases to a probable 1 in 70 chance of developing breast cancer when that same women is in her forties.

The risk factor for breast cancer is also affected by family history with the risk being especially high when you have a close relative (such as an aunt or mother) who has developed cancer of the breast at a young age.

Although it has yet to be confirmed, there is believed to be a cancer gene that can be passed down from mother to daughter.

About the Author

Breast cancer touches many of us nowadays and for those of us with breast cancer questions then there is no better place than http://breastcancertreatmentinformation.com to find the answers we need.

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