Breast Cancer Menubar
Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer
Types of breast cancer
Ductal
carcinoma in situ (DCIS) (majority of breast cancers). Originates
in the cells lining the milk Lobular
carcinoma in situ (LCIS) Originates in the lobules.
Less common, types of breast cancer include:
Medullary, Mucinous, Tubular, Metaplastic, Papillary breast cancer, Inflammatory
breast cancer (a faster-growing type, ~1 - 5% of all breast cancers),
Paget 's disease (cancer begins in the nipple ducts).
Breast cancer metastases
Breast tumour cells can metastasize
(i.e. spread) to the axillary lymph nodes and to
other organs - most often the bones, brain, liver and lungs. Breast
cancer cells can break away from the primary tumor and enter the bloodstream or
lymphatic system, where blood or lymph fluids can transport the cells around the
body. The cells can then settle and form new tumors in places far from the
original tumor. Commonly, doctors diagnose metastatic breast cancer after previously
received treatment for an earlier stage (non-metastatic) breast cancer. When
invasive surgery cuts into breast tissue to remove a tumor, there is an obvious
risk that cancer cells will enter the bloodstream and metastasize.
A 2018 Finnish / Swedish study examining
the routes of metastases in breast cancer (by studying
cancer cell DNA) found that metastases do NOT spread
from axillary lymph nodes . ". . . metastases in the axillary
lymph nodes do not seem to spread further to other organs, so
even if these metastases can show how aggressive the
cancer is, it is not they that cause the spread ," says Johan Hartman, Associate
Professor at Karolinska Institutet's Department of Oncology-Pathology, one of the
researchers who led the study. The study also found that
in certain cases an early explosion of cancer cells
from the breast tumour simultaneously gives rise to metastases in several different
organs. The researchers also showed that different regions of the breast tumours
caused metastases in specific organs in the body.
(Ullah et al, 2018)
Statistics
Globally.
Breast
cancer is the secondmost common cancer killer of women - only lung cancer is more
deadly. Currently annually diagnosed in well over a million people globally, and
killing about 500,000 people.
In the U.S.
According
to the National Breast cancer Foundation, there are 200,000 newly diagnosed cases
of breast cancer each year, and 40,000 women each year are dying of this prolific
disease. There has been a disturbing increase in the breast cancer rates over
the past 50 years.
1 out of 8 women who live to age 85 will develop
breast cancer.
80% of breast lumps are NON-cancerous.
70% of breast cancers are found through breast
self-exams. Furthermore, research confirms that
adding mammograms to a careful breast examination does NOT save lives,
and may actually cause breast cancer..
Say "No"
to Mammograms
80% of women diagnosed with breast cancer
have no family history of breast cancer.
Breast cancer is the leading cause of death
for women age 40 to 55.
15% of all breast cancers occur in women under
age 45. Generally, they have more aggressive cancers with
lower recovery rates.
The 2016 death rate from breast cancer for the U.S.
was 45.7. Death rate was higher among non-Hispanic black
women compared with non-Hispanic white women and Hispanic women
.
CDC 2016 data
Men are not immune.
Although their odds of having breast cancer are about 100 times less
than women; ~1,700 men will develop breast cancer and 450 will die from it each
year.
- Men who work around gasoline and combustion products
have a significantly higher risk of developing breast cancer.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine 2000;37:349-352
