Cancer Process

Understanding the Cancer Process

Cancer The smallest unit of life in the body, the cell, is where cancer , a group of related disorders, begins. Knowing what happens when healthy cells develop cancer is useful for understanding cancer.

The body is made up of many types of cells. Normally, cells grow and pide to produce more cells only when the body needs them. This systematic procedure keeps the body in good condition. Cells can continue to divide even though new cells are not required.These extra cells form a mass of tissue, called a growth or tumor . Tumors can be benign or malignant.

• Benign tumors are not Cancer. They can usually be removed, and in most cases, they do not come back.The body's benign tumors' cells do not spread to other areas. Most importantly, there is no danger to life from benign breast cancers..
• Malignant tumors are Cancer. Cells in these tumors are abnormal. They pide without control or order, and they can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. Additionally, Cancer cells have the ability to separate from malignant tumors and reach the lymphatic or circulatory systems. This is how Cancer spreads to various organs from the original (primary) Cancer site. Metastasis is the medical term for cancer's spread.

When Cancer arises in breast tissue and spreads (metastasizes) outside the breast, Cancer cells are often found in the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes).If the Cancer has reached these nodes, it means that Cancer cells may have spread to other parts of the body -- other lymph nodes and other organs, such as the bones, liver, or lungs. When Cancer spreads from its original location to another part of the body, the new tumor has the same kind of abnormal cells an same name as the primary tumor. For example, if breast cancer spreads to the brain, the cancer cells in the brain are actually breast cancer cells. The disease is called metastatic breast cancer. (It is not brain cancer.) Doctors sometimes call this "distant" disease.

Breast Cancer: Who's at Risk?

It is unknown what specifically causes breast cancer. However, research indicates that as a woman ages her risk of developing breast cancer rises. In women under 35, this illness is quite rare.. Most breast cancer occur in women over the age of 50, and the risk is especially high for women over age 60. Also, breast cancer occurs more often in white women than African American or Asian women.

Research has shown that the following conditions increase a woman's chances of getting breast cancer:

• Personal history of breast cancer. Women who have had breast cancer face an increased risk of getting breast cancer in their other breast.
• Family history. A woman's risk for developing breast cancer increases if her mother, sister, or daughter had breast cancer, especially at a young age.
• Certain breast changes. Having a diagnosis of atypical hyperplasia or lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) may increase a woman's risk for developing cancer.
• Genetic alterationsBreast cancer risk is increased by changes in particular genes (BRCA1, BRCA2, and others). Gene testing can occasionally reveal the presence of particular genetic alterations that enhance the risk of breast cancer in families where many women have had the disease. In women who have these mutations in their DNA, doctors may recommend methods to try to postpone or prevent breast cancer or to improve the identification of this disease.

Other factors associated with an increased risk for breast cancer include:

• Estrogen. According to data, a woman's risk of developing breast cancer increases with the amount of time she is exposed to estrogen (estrogen produced by the body, taken as a medicine, or applied as a patch). For instance, the risk is slightly higher for women who started menstruating young (before age 12), went through menopause later (after age 55), and so on., never had children, or took hormone replacement therapy for long periods of time. Each of these factors increases the amount of time a woman's body is exposed to estrogen.
• Late childbearing. Women who have their first child late (after about age 30) have a greater chance of developing breast cancer than women who have a child at a younger age.
• Breast density. Breasts that have a high proportion of lobular and ductal tissue appear dense on mammograms. breast cancers nearly always develop in lobular or ductal tissue (not fatty tissue). That's why cancer is more likely to occur in breasts that have a lot of lobular and ductal tissue (that is, dense tissue) than in breasts with a lot of fatty tissue. In addition, when breasts are dense, it is more difficult for doctors to see abnormal areas on a mammogram.
• Radiation therapy. Women whose breasts were exposed to radiation during radiation therapy before age 30, especially those who were treated with radiation for Hodgkin's disease, are at an increased risk for developing breast cancer. Studies show that the younger a woman wasthe earlier she began her treatment, the greater her chance of getting breast cancer in the future.
• alcohol may be somewhat more likely to getbreast cancer..