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Breast cancer is an uncontrolled growth of breast cells. To better understand breast cancer, it helps to understand how any cancer can develop.

Cancer occurs as a result of mutations, or abnormal changes, in the genes responsible for regulating the growth of cells and keeping them healthy. The genes are in each cell's nucleus, which acts as the “control room” of each cell. Normally, the cells in our bodies replace themselves through an orderly process of cell growth: healthy new cells take over as old ones die out. But over time, mutations can “turn on” certain genes and “turn off” others in a cell. That changed cell gains the ability to keep dividing without control or order, producing more cells just like it and forming a tumor.

A tumor can be benign (not dangerous to health) or malignant (has the potential to be dangerous). Benign tumors are not considered cancerous: their cells are close to normal in appearance, they grow slowly, and they do not invade nearby tissues or spread to other parts of the body. Malignant tumors are cancerous. Left unchecked, malignant cells eventually can spread beyond the original tumor to other parts of the body.

The term “breast cancer” refers to a malignant tumor that has developed from cells in the breast. Usually breast cancer either begins in the cells of the lobules, which are the milk-producing glands, or the ducts, the passages that drain milk from the lobules to the nipple. Less commonly, breast cancer can begin in the stromal tissues, which include the fatty and fibrous connective tissues of the breast.

Over time, cancer cells can invade nearby healthy breast tissue and make their way into the underarm lymph nodes, small organs that filter out foreign substances in the body. If cancer cells get into the lymph nodes, they then have a pathway into other parts of the body. The breast cancer's stage refers to how far the cancer cells have spread beyond the original tumor

Breast cancer is always caused by a genetic abnormality (a “mistake” in the genetic material). However, only 5-10% of cancers are due to an abnormality inherited from your mother or father. About 90% of breast cancers are due to genetic abnormalities that happen as a result of the aging process and the “wear and tear” of life in general.

While there are steps every person can take to help the body stay as healthy as possible (such as eating a balanced diet, not smoking, limiting alcohol, and exercising regularly), breast cancer is never anyone's fault. Feeling guilty, or telling yourself that breast cancer happened because of something you or anyone else did, is not productive.

Cause

The exact cause of breast cancer is not known. Female hormones and increasing age play a part. The chances that you will develop breast cancer increase as you age.

Family history also plays a role in the development of breast cancer. You are more likely to have breast cancer if your mother, father, or sister has breast cancer. Also, women who carry certain genes called BRCA1 and BRCA2 are more likely to have breast cancer. If you have a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer, you may want to be tested for these genes. People who inherit specific changes, or mutations, in one or both of these genes have a greater risk of developing breast cancer.

Many people believe that only women have breast cancer. But, although rare, about 1% of all breast cancer occurs in men. Most men who have breast cancer are older than 65, but it can appear in younger men. For this reason, any breast lump in an adult man is considered abnormal.

Stages of Breast Cancer

Symptoms

The first sign of breast cancer is often a painless lump. But early breast cancer is often found on a mammogram before a lump can be felt.

Other symptoms of breast cancer may not appear until the cancer is more advanced. These include:

• A thickening in the breast or armpit.
• A change in the size or shape of the breast.
• Changes in the skin of the breast, such as a dimple or skin that looks like an orange peel.
• A change in the nipple, such as scaling of the skin or a nipple that turns in.
• A green or bloody fluid that comes from the nipple.
• A change in the color or feel of the skin around the nipple (areola).

What Increases Your Risk ?

Although the exact cause of breast cancer is not known, most experts agree that there are several factors that increase your risk of breast cancer.

Top risk factors linked to breast cancer

Aging. Your risk of breast cancer increases as you get older. By age group, breast cancer is diagnosed in: 2

• 4 out of 1,000 women in their 30s.

• 15 out of 1,000 women in their 40s.

• 26 out of 1,000 women in their 50s.

• 37 out of 1,000 women in their 60s.

Being female. Although breast cancer can occur in men, most breast cancer is found in women.

Conditions that increase the risk of developing breast cancer:

Personal history of breast cancer. Women who have had breast cancer in one breast have an increased chance of having another breast cancer. The breast cancer can come back in the same breast, in the opposite breast, or in other areas of the body, such as the lungs, liver, brain, or bones.

Family history. A woman's risk of breast cancer increases if her mother, sister, daughter, or two or more other close relatives, such as cousins, have a history of breast cancer, especially if they were diagnosed with breast cancer before age 50.

• Women who inherit specific changes (genetic mutations) in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are much more likely to have breast cancer. They are also more likely to have colon or ovarian cancer. But most women who have a family history of breast cancer do not have changes in BRCA genes.

• Mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are more common in certain ethnic groups, such as Ashkenazi Jews.

Genetic tests are available to determine whether you have the genetic mutations long before any cancer appears. In families where many women have had breast or ovarian cancer, genetic testing can show whether a woman has specific genetic changes known to greatly increase the risk of breast cancer.

Breast changes. Women who have atypical hyperplasia, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), or lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) or who have had two or more breast biopsies for other noncancerous conditions are more likely to have breast cancer.

Other factors that increase the risk of breast cancer:

Late or no childbearing. Women who had their first child after the age of 30 have a greater chance of developing breast cancer than women who had their children at a younger age. Women who never had children have an increased risk for developing breast cancer.

Not breast-feeding. Women who don't breast-feed have a higher risk of breast cancer than those who breast-feed. The more months of breast-feeding, the lower the breast cancer risk.

Hormones. Female hormones play a part in some types of breast cancer.

• The use of Synthetic hormone therapy after menopause for more than 4 years causes an increased risk of developing breast cancer. This increased risk occurs with current use of synthetic hormones and returns to normal over time after hormones are stopped.

• Beginning menstruation before age 12 and beginning menopause later than age 55 increase a woman's risk of breast cancer. The years when you have a menstrual cycle are your high-estrogen years. Experts think that the longer you have higher estrogen, the more risk you have for breast cancer.

• Having extra body fat and drinking alcohol both lead to higher levels of estrogen in the body. Especially after menopause, when your estrogen levels are naturally low, this raises your breast cancer risk.

Screening tests

The earlier breast cancer is found, the more easily and successfully it can be treated. The most common methods for detecting breast cancer include:

• Mammogram. A mammogram is an X-ray of the breast. It can often find tumors that are too small for you or your doctor to feel. Your doctor may suggest that you have a screening mammogram, especially if you have any risk factors for breast cancer.

• Clinical breast exam (CBE). During a clinical breast exam, your doctor will carefully feel your breasts and under your arms to check for lumps or other unusual changes.

• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast. MRI is a test that uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to provide pictures of the inside of the breast. It may be more sensitive than a mammogram for finding breast cancer in women who have a strong family history of breast cancer. But MRI also finds small irregularities that can lead to further testing but turn out to not be breast cancer. MRI is also more expensive and not as readily available as mammography.