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Causes could include:
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Lactocele
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Lumps in a woman are often caused by fibrocystic changes, fibroadenomas, and cysts.Fibrocystic changes can occur in either or both breasts. These changes are common in women(especially during the reproductive years), and are considered a normal va...
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Breast cancer is a cancer that starts in the tissues of the breast.Ductal carcinoma starts in the tubes(ducts) that move milk from the breast to the nipple. Most breast cancers are of this type.
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Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in American women, accounting for approximately 30 percent of their new cancer cases. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, following lung cancer.
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Noninvasive breast cancer occurs when cancer cells are only in the ducts. Invasive breast cancer occurs when abnormal cells move out of the ducts or lobules into the surrounding breast tissue.
Metastasis occurs when cancer cells move into the lymph nodes or bloodstream and travel to another part of the body.
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Breast cancer is the abnormal growth and uncontrolled division of cells in the breast. Cancer cells invade and destroy surrounding normal tissue, and can spread throughout the body via blood or lymph fluid(clear fluid bathing body cells) to start ...
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With so much information out there about breast cancer, sometimes it's difficult to separate myth from reality.
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Detailed information on breast cancer, including the difference between benign and malignant tumors and the most common types of breast cancer
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Breast cancer is caused by the development of malignant cells in the breast. The malignant cells originate in the lining of the milk glands or ducts of the breast(ductal epithelium), defining this malignancy as a cancer.
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Breast cancer mortality rates are declining, while the five-year survival rate is climbing. The decline in breast cancer deaths can be attributed to a number of factors.
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Breast cancer is cancer that begins in the breast. It is one of the most common types of cancer in American women. Doctors do not yet know what causes breast cancer. Once breast cancer occurs, cancer cells can spread to other parts of your body, making it life-threatening. The good news is that breast cancer is often found early before it has spread, and more treatment options exist than ever before. That means there's more hope of beating breast cancer.
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The ducts and the lobules are the two structures of the breast where cancer is most likely to occur. Your doctor can look under a microscope at the cancer cells that were collected during your biopsy to determine which type of cancer you have. The type of cancer partly determines your choices for treatment. Other rare types of cancers, such as inflammatory breast cancer and Paget's disease, can begin in the breast as well.
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Expert-reviewed information summary about factors that may increase the risk of developing breast cancer and about research aimed at the prevention of this disease.
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Expert-reviewed information summary about tests used to detect or screen for breast cancer.
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Breast cancer is a disease in which abnormal breast cells begin to grow uncontrollably, forming tumors. It often shows up as a breast lump, breast thickening, or skin change.The breasts are areas of tissue located on the front chest wall, and are ...
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Some people use statistics to try to figure out their chances of getting cancer or being cured of it. However, statistics only show what happens to large groups of people. Because no two people are alike, you cannot use them to predict what might happen to you.
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Breast cancer is a disease in which abnormal breast cells begin to grow uncontrollably, forming tumors. It often shows up as a breast lump, breast thickening, or skin change.The breasts are areas of tissue located on the front chest wall, and are ...
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Detailed information on breast cancer treatment, including surgery, breast reconstruction, lymphedema, breast prosthesis, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, Tamoxifen, and Taxol
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Breast cancer is caused by the development of malignant cells in the breast. The malignant cells originate in the lining of the milk glands or ducts of the breast(ductal epithelium), defining this malignancy as a cancer.
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A new type of treatment may be used for breast cancer. It's called targeted therapy. It uses molecularly targeted drugs. That means the drugs zone in on the exact change in the cell that lets cancer cells grow and spread. There's a specific kind of targeted drug for breast cancer. These drugs are called monoclonal antibodies. They work by stopping or slowing the growth of a certain protein in cancer cells. For breast cancer, the drug is Herceptin (trastuzumab). Herceptin aims for a protein called HER-2 or erb B2. That stands for human epidermal growth factor receptor-2. About 20 to 30% of breast cancer tumors make too much of this protein. This is called over expression. These tumors tend to grow faster than tumors that don't make too much HER-2. And these tumors are more likely to recur. Treatment with Herceptin can stop or slow the growth of cancer cells.
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Detailed information on the genetics of breast cancer, including information on hereditary breast ovarian cancer syndrome, brca1, brca2, Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, Cowden syndrome, and ataxia telangiectasia
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Detailed information on different types of surgery for breast cancer treatment, including lumpectomy, partial mastectomy, total mastectomy, modified radical mastectomy, and radical mastectomy
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Detailed information on the signs and symptoms of breast cancer The following are the most common symptoms of breast cancer. However, each individual may experience symptoms differently. Early breast cancer usually does not cause pain and may cause no symptoms at all. And, some breast cancers never cause symptoms or other indications of a problem.
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Detailed information on the risk factors for breast cancer A risk factor is anything that may increase a person's chance of developing a disease. It may be an activity, such as smoking, diet, family history, or many other things. Different diseases, including cancers, have different risk factors.
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Detailed information on treatments for breast cancer, including hormone therapy, adjuvant therapy, biological therapy, bone marrow transplant, and autologous stem cell therapy
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Your doctor may suggest targeted therapy if these statements apply to you. You have stage IV breast cancer, and your cancer cells have high levels of the protein HER-2.
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Your doctor may suggest chemotherapy to treat breast cancer for any of the following situations.
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Your doctor may suggest radiation if you fall into one of the following categories.
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It helps to learn all you can about your disease and treatment choices so that you can take an active part in decisions about your medical care. Discuss these choices with your doctors, nurses, and loved ones. Your doctor is the best person to answer your questions about treatment. Make sure you ask how the treatment will change your daily life and how you will look and feel after treatment.
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During a biopsy, a doctor removes cells from your breast and then sends them to a lab to be examined under a microscope. There is more than one kind of biopsy. The type that your doctor suggests depends on what has been learned thus far about the lump and whether or not it can be located by touch alone. Here are brief descriptions of each type of biopsy.
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When you are undergoing treatment for cancer, you may have side effects that affect your physical response to sex. You may also experience changing feelings about who you are, how you feel about yourself, and how you feel about your relationships. All of these feelings can influence your sexuality.
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There is a debate raging that has respected nutrition experts on both sides of the battle lines. The topic is the role of soy in breast cancer. Does soy prevent breast cancer or promote it? Does soy have different effects in different people? Unfortunately, there are simply no clear-cut answers yet.
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For more information, talk to your healthcare team or support network. You and your healthcare provider will discuss your treatment options. Weigh all of your options before deciding which is best for you. Your plan may call for one or more types of adjuvant therapy. These are treatments used in addition to surgery.
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Breast cancer is the abnormal growth and uncontrolled division of cells in the breast. Cancer cells can invade and destroy surrounding tissue, and may metastasize(spread) throughout the body via blood or lymph fluid to other parts of the body.Brea...
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A review of several new advances in breast cancer treatment, including a report on a drug that may reduce cancer recurrence by as much as half.
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What can you do if you are at risk for breast cancer? See "Am I At Risk for Breast Cancer” for a list of risk factors. The best thing you can do is to try to lower as many of the risks as possible, such as by making certain lifestyle changes. Remember, however, that in some cases, more studies are needed to confirm which of these can have the greatest impact.
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Factors that can affect a woman's risk of breast cancer include weight gain, activity level, alcohol consumption, vitamins, birth control pills, hormone therapy, breast density, and use of preventive medication.
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Expert-reviewed information summary about the treatment of breast cancer.The breast is made up of lobes and ducts. Each breast has 15 to 20 sections called lobes, which have many smaller sections called lobules. Lobules end in dozens of tiny bulbs that can produce milk. The lobes, lobules, and bulbs are linked by thin tubes called ducts.
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Q: Can breast cancer be prevented? A: There is no sure way to prevent breast cancer. All women can consider the lifestyle risk factors as they make their choices. The answers are not all in on this subject and women need to stay informed as new research is published. For women who are at higher-than-average risk, tamoxifen has been approved in the United States to reduce their risk of developing breast cancer. This hormonal treatment has side effects and risks of its own, so the decision to use tamoxifen for prevention should be made in careful consultation with a doctor. It is likely others will be approved in the future, based on ongoing studies and approvals in Europe. For women at extremely high risk of breast cancer, preventive mastectomy (surgery to remove the breasts) may be considered. While many breast cancers cannot be prevented, early detection and prompt treatment can save lives when breast cancer occurs.
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Before you have surgery for breast cancer, your doctor is likely to schedule a bone scan for you. This test can show if the cancer has spread to the bones, called bone metastis.
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The decision to have reconstructive breast surgery is a very personal one. It depends a lot on how you think you will feel after a mastectomy. If you think you would feel uncomfortable with a flat chest or wearing a false breast, called a prosthesis, you may want to consider reconstructive surgery. If you don't mind how you'll look or don't want to have any extra surgery, you may not want to do it. Reconstructive surgery can be done at the time of your mastectomy. Or you can schedule it for a later date. You may need more than one operation to complete the reconstruction.
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Because Herceptin targets particular cells, it is less damaging to healthy cells than other types of treatment. Compared with chemotherapy, the side effects are mild. This list of side effects is listed alphabetically. Ask your doctor which ones are most likely for you.
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You get Herceptin through an intravenous (IV) injection into your vein. It will take 30 to 90 minutes to get your full dose. You can usually have this done as an outpatient.
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Breast cancer survivors should work with their doctors to monitor their health closely, to avoid a relapse or other medical problems. Surviving the illness takes a serious mental toll as well.
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Chemotherapy kills cancer cells, and it also harms healthy cells. That means it often causes unwanted, and sometimes serious, side effects. Ask your oncologist and chemotherapy nurse about each drug's side effects. Everyone doesn't have the same side effects. They depend on the chemotherapy drugs you take and on the drug combinations that are used. Many of these side effects can be controlled and most end during the recovery part of the chemotherapy cycle or after the treatment is done.
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What happens during chemotherapy depends on the type of drug or drugs you take.
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Detailed information on radiation therapy for breast cancer Radiation therapy is a process that precisely sends high levels of radiation directly to the cancer cells. Radiation done after surgery can kill cancer cells that may not be seen during surgery. Radiation may also be done:
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If you get EBRT, you don't need to worry about being radioactive after your treatments. It's perfectly safe to be around other people. However, if you have brachytherapy, you may be told to avoid certain people who could be sensitive to radiation, such as small children.
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What happens during radiation therapy depends on whether you get EBRT or brachytherapy. EBRT is the more common way to have radiation therapy for breast cancer. This is how it works.
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Investigators report headway against breast cancer, the disease that worries women more than any other.
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How long you stay in the hospital will depend mostly upon your overall health and the type of surgery you had. Your doctors and nurses will explain the side effects you can expect with each form of treatment. They can also suggest ways to help prevent or manage these side effects. It is important that you let the doctor or nurse know if you have side effects. Below is a description of general side effects resulting from breast cancer surgery. They're listed in order of the most common to the least common.
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Detailed information on chemotherapy for breast cancer treatment Chemotherapy is the use of anti-cancer drugs to treat cancerous cells. Chemotherapy reaches all parts of the body, not just the cancer cells. The oncologist will recommend a treatment plan for each individual. Specific treatment will be based on:
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Radiation treatment is also called radiotherapy. It's one way to treat breast cancer. It uses strong X-rays or another source to kill cancer cells. Radiation is a local treatment. That means it affects the cancer cells only in the treated area.
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You have a better chance of surviving breast cancer if your doctor finds and treats it early. The best way to detect breast cancer early is to be screened regularly. This isn't possible for many cancers, but it is with breast cancer. Screening, however, doesn't guarantee that you won't get cancer or die from it, especially if it's found after symptoms develop.
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There is really no way to know for sure if you're going to get breast cancer, though certain risk factors can make it more likely. However, having one or more risk factors does not necessarily mean that you will get breast cancer. In fact, you can have all the risk factors and never get breast cancer, or you can have no known risk factors and still get the disease.
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Detailed information on the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (BCPT): Tamoxifen as Prevention Therapy for Breast Cancer
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Breast cancer often causes no symptoms in its early stages. Women with early breast cancer usually do not feel pain or experience any symptoms at all. Screening tests are better able to detect the disease at this time. As the cancer grows, however, it can cause the following changes.
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A Harvard Medical School doctor describes her own fight against breast cancer and provides recommendations for other women coping with the disease.
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No matter what type of treatment you have for breast cancer, it can take a toll on both your body and emotions. The effects of the disease and treatment often cause women to become less active, more stressed, and unable to sleep well. And the worse you feel, the more inactive you tend to become. As a result, you may lack the strength and stamina to continue or resume the roles and activities you carried out before your cancer diagnosis.
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Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. It's a systemic treatment. That means it affects your whole body. The drugs travel all through your body in your bloodstream, killing rapidly dividing cancer cells. Here are some ways chemotherapy works.
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Certain well-respected organizations have varying advice about the methods of breast cancer screening and how often you should be screened. Here's what two of these groups recommend for those with an average risk of getting breast cancer.
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In recent years, researchers have discovered new and better ways to detect and treat breast cancer—and to keep it from coming back.
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You will likely have physical concerns since your cancer may cause symptoms, and you may have side effects from your treatment. In this section, you'll learn more about how to respond to some of the most common ones. They are listed in alphabetical order.
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The good news is that breast cancer can be treated successfully. Treatments include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, or any combination of these. Here's a closer look at each.
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Digital mammography is poised to replace the standard version, but studies show them to be about equal in effectiveness at detecting cancers, depending on age and breast density. Ultrasound and MRI are also useful tools for detection in some women.
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NATIONAL MAMMOGRAPHY DAY The third Friday in October each year is National Mammography Day, first proclaimed by President Clinton in 1993. On this day, or throughout the month, we encourage women to make a mammography appointment.
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Key Points The National Cancer Institute, a component of the National Institutes of Health, estimates that, based on current rates, 12.7 percent of women born today will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some time in their lives.
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Thefollowing Inspirational Story was taken from Silver Linings: The Other Side of Cancer, published by the Oncology Nursing Press, Inc.
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Detailed information on breast cancer statistics, including information from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program
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The recent decrease in new breast cancer cases in women over 50 appears to be linked to the decline in the use of hormone therapy for symptoms of menopause.
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When you are being treated for breast cancer, it's likely that you will have side effects from that treatment and, perhaps, also symptoms of the disease itself. For instance, the cancer itself can cause symptoms if the tumor puts pressure on an organ or body part and causes pain. Or the tumor may interfere with the function of that organ or body part. The treatments to destroy cancer cells can harm healthy cells at the same time, and that means treatment can cause side effects.
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A variety of false theories about breast cancer risk factors cause unnecessary concerns for many women. Many have been studied and found to not have any impact on breast cancer risk.
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Your doctor took a sample of cells from your breast using a biopsy to confirm that you have cancer.
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You may have more than one surgeon depending upon the procedures you're having. You'll meet before surgery to discuss your procedures. At this time, you can talk about any questions or concerns you may have. You may also want to review the risks and possible side effects of surgery. Ask your doctor when you can expect to return to your normal activities and whether the surgery will leave scars. If you haven't scheduled reconstructive surgery, ask about your options.
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If you're having symptoms of breast cancer or have something suspicious that has shown up on a previous test, your doctor will want to follow up. Your doctor is likely to ask you questions concerning these things:
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It may sound harsh to ask the question "Can I survive this?” But it's a question on most people's mind when they are facing a diagnosis of breast cancer. And the answer can be just as hard as asking the question.
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A recent study reports that regular exercise reduced mortality by as much as half among breast cancer survivors.
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Reports that, contrary to earlier studies, ductal lavage is not a good alternative to mammography in screening for breast cancer.
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The Harvard Health Letter celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. In the third of a series, the Health Letter takes a look back at three decades in medicine.
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Fear of recurrence joins with initial fatigue, hair loss, and perhaps discomfort from breast reconstruction.
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The following drugs and tests have been approved since the year 2000 for the treatment of breast cancer.
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A breast infection is an infection in the tissue of the breast.Mastitis; Infection- breast tissue; Breast abscess.Breast infections are usually caused by a common bacteria( Staphylococcus aureus) found on normal skin. The bacteria enter through a ...
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Most breast conditions are noncancerous. But if you notice any breast changes that aren't normal for you, see your healthcare provider.
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Skin lumps are any abnormal lump or swelling on the skin.Many people wonder if small bumps or lumps on the body are something to worry about. Most lumps and swellings are benign(not cancerous) and are harmless, especially the kind that feel soft a...
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Intraductal papilloma is a small, noncancerous(benign) tumor that grows in a milk duct of the breast.Intraductal papilloma occurs most often in women ages 35- 55. The causes and risk factors are unknown.Intraductal papilloma is the most common cau...
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Fibrocystic breast disease refers to benign(noncancerous) changes in the tissues of the breast. The term"disease" in this case is misleading, and many health care providers prefer the term"change.".The condition is so common that it is believed to...
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Fibrocystic condition of the breast is a term that may refer to a variety of symptoms: breast lumpiness or tenderness, microscopic breast tissue, and/or the x ray or ultrasound picture of the breast. It has been called a"wastebasket" diagnosis bec...
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Do your breasts ever feel "lumpy,” sore, or tender? If so, you may have fibrocystic breasts. This is a very common condition. It is not a disease, and it is not cancer.
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Fibrocystic breast disease is a general term that refers to a variety of symptoms and diagnoses, including breast lumpiness, tenderness, and a wide range of vaguely-defined benign breast conditions. The term is also used diagnostically to describe...
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Detailed information on common fibrocystic breast changes, including what fibrocystic changes feel like
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Fibrocystic condition of the breast is a term that may refer to a variety of symptoms: breast lumpiness or tenderness, microscopic breast tissue, and/or the x-ray or.A mammogram of a female breast indicating multiple cysts.( Custom Medical Stock P...
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Detailed information on common fibrocystic breast changes, including what fibrocystic changes feel like
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