Familiarize yourself with the structure of your breast first
Before understanding breast cancer, it is important to familiarize yourself with the structure of the breast. The normal breast consists of breast glands that are connected to the skin surface at the nipple by narrow breast ducts. The glands and ducts are supported by connective tissue composed of fat and fibrous tissue. Blood vessels, nerves and lymphatic vessels leading to lymph nodes make up most of the remaining breast tissue. The breast structures lie beneath the skin and above the pectoral muscles.
Even if it has metastasized, it is still considered breast cancer
As with all other cancers, the abnormal tissues that make up breast cancer are the patient’s own tissues, and the growth of these tissues is not controlled. These cells may also move into other parts of the body where they are not often found. In this case, the cancer is metastatic.
Breast cancer appears in the breast tissue, mainly in the ducts (ductal carcinoma) or glands (lobular carcinoma). Even if the tumor cells are not detected until after they have entered other parts of the body, they are still considered breast cancer and treated as such. These cancers are called metastatic or advanced breast cancers.
Lumps in the breast may be cancer, but they may not be
Breast cancer often starts as a small, well-defined lump or as a microcalcification, then spreads through channels in the breast to lymph nodes or through the bloodstream to other organs. The tumor may grow and invade the tissues surrounding the breast, such as the skin or chest wall. Different types of breast cancers grow and spread at different rates, with some taking years to spread outside the breast and others growing and spreading rapidly.
Some lumps are benign (non-cancerous), and others may be precancerous. The only safe way to tell a benign lump from a cancer is to have it examined by your doctor through a tissue biopsy.
Men can get breast cancer, too, but more often in women
Men can get breast cancer, too, but male breast cancer accounts for only 1% of all breast cancers. Among women, breast cancer is the most common cancer. If 8 women live to be at least 85 years old, 1 of them is expected to develop breast cancer at some point in her life. Two-thirds of women with breast cancer are older than 50 years old, and most of the remaining one-third are between the ages of 39 and 49.
Cure rates for breast cancer are high when caught early, but treatment becomes difficult after recurrence
Fortunately, if caught early, breast cancer has a very high cure rate. Localized tumors can often be successfully treated before the cancer spreads; 9/10 patients survive for at least another 5 years. However, late recurrence of breast cancer is also common.
After the cancer begins to spread, treatment becomes difficult, although treatment can often control the disease for years. Improving screening and treatment options mean that about 8 out of 10 women with breast cancer will survive at least 10 years after their initial diagnosis.