What is breast cancer

The breast is made up of a collection of glands and fatty tissue and is placed between the skin and the chest wall.
In fact not a single gland, but a group of glandular structures called lobules, connected together to form a lobe. In one breast, there are 15 to 20 lobes. The milk comes from the lobules to the nipple through tiny tubes called ducts (or lactiferous).
Breast cancer is a potentially serious illness if not detected and treated early. It is due to the uncontrolled multiplication of cells of the mammary gland cells that become malignant.
This means that they have the ability to detach from the fabric that created to invade surrounding tissues and, eventually, other organs of the body. In theory they can form tumors from all types of breast tissue, but the most frequently arise from the glandular cells (from the lobules) or those that form the walls of the ducts.top

How widespread
Breast cancer affects 1 in 10 women. It is the most common tumor in women and accounts for 25 percent of all cancers affecting women.
It is the leading cause of cancer mortality in women, with a mortality rate of 17 percent of all deaths due to cancer.top

Who is at risk
There are several risk factors for breast cancer, some of which are preventable.
Age: over 80 percent of cases of breast cancer affects women over 50 years.
Familiarity with about 10 percent of women with breast cancer has more than one close family member ill (especially in juvenile cases).
There are also some genes that predispose to this type of cancer: BRCA1 and BRCA2 are. Mutations in these genes are responsible for 50 percent of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.
Hormones: several studies have shown that excessive use of estrogen (female hormone par excellence) facilitate the occurrence of breast cancer. For this reason, all factors that increase its presence have a negative effect and vice versa (eg, pregnancies, reducing the production of estrogen in the body, have a protective effect).
The alterations of the breast, fibroadenomas and cysts that can detect a breast exam does not increase the risk of cancer. Are to be kept under control at first that her breasts mammograms show dense tissue or even a benign form of cell growth called hyperplasia of the breast.Although obesity and smoking have negative effects.
Types
There are two types of breast cancer: the non-invasive and invasive forms.The non-invasive forms are two:
ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS or) is an early form of breast cancer confined to the cells that form the walls of the ducts. If left untreated it can become invasive.
lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS): Although this type of cancer is not invasive, is a signal of increased risk of forming tumors in both breasts.
The invasive forms are two:
infiltrating ductal carcinoma: is called when it exceeds the wall of the duct. Represents between 70 and 80 percent of all breast cancers.
Infiltrating lobular carcinoma: is called so when the tumor beyond the wall of the lobule. Represents 10-15 percent of all breast cancers. It can affect both breasts simultaneously or appear at various points in the same breast.top

Symptoms
In general, the early forms of breast cancer do not cause pain. A study of nearly a thousand women with breast pain showed that only 0.4 percent of them had a malignant lesion, while 12.3 percent were present in benign lesions (eg cysts) and the rest of the cases There was no injury.The pain was only caused by natural changes in hormones during the cycle.
To search, however, have any palpable nodules or even visible. Half of all cases of breast cancer occurs in the upper outer quadrant of the breast.
Important note to the doctor even alterations of the nipple (out or in), only loss from a nipple (if the loss is bilateral in most cases the cause is hormonal) changes of the skin (peau d'orange localized) or the shape of the breast.
The majority of breast cancers, however, shows no sign of him and is seen only with mammography (the young woman, between 30 and 45 years, also with the help of ultrasound).top