Breast cancer

Breast cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in women; just after skin cancer. Since both my mother and grandmother survived breast cancer, it seems important for me to better understand the disease and learn how to reduce my own risks. I hope to be able to make smart decisions in order to reduce my risks of breast cancer, but also to be able to inform the other women in my family of way to reduce or detect breast cancer early. Although breast cancer can affect men as well as women, I will be focusing my research on women’s breast cancer. To understand such a complex disease, we need to know and understand what breast cancer is, but also be able to recognize the risk factors in order to seek appropriate screening and prevention, or understand the diagnosis and treatment options if the case may be. Breast cancer refers to a malignant tumor that has developed from cells in the breast. Breast cells grow in an uncontrollable way and form a tumor. Usually breast cancer either begins in the cells of the lobules, which are the milk-producing glands, or in the ducts, the passages that drain the milk from the lobules to the nipple. CITE According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, there are seven different types of breast cancers. The most common is Infiltrating Ductal Carcinoma (IDC), followed by Medullary Carcinoma. There is also the Ductal Carcinoma In-Situ (DCIS), which is a non invasive cancer confined in the ductal system. The Infiltrating Ductal Carcinoma accounts for 78% of breast cancers, and this is the one that runs in my family. One in eight women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States, but after a 20 year increase in incidence rates in women, we are seeing a decrease since 1996 of about 2% . (breast cancer.org) It is important to understand what breast cancer is in order to treat or prevent it. Like any other tumor, breast cancer tumor form from the result of uncontrollable cells growth. Ductal