What is Breast Cancer ?
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in India. It mainly affects women, but in rare cases men can get breast cancer too. Most common symptom of breast cancer is a lump in the breast but lump may not always be present.There are other symptoms of breast cancer like skin changes, nipple retraction etc which may be present with or without a lump.
The earlier breast cancer is diagnosed, the easier it is to treat. This means it’s important for women to check their breasts regularly and report any unusual changes to their doctors.Many cells are born daily in the human body and many cells grow old and die. This process of birth and death of cell is under tight control of body’s physiology. Cancer begins from a single cell which undergoes an uncontrolled growth and. When this occurs, a build up of cells often forms a mass of tissue called a lump, growth, or tumor.cells from this tumour can spread by breaking away from the original tumor and entering blood vessels or lymph vessels, which branch into tissues throughout the body. When cancer cells travel to other parts of the body and begin damaging other tissues and organs, the process is called metastasis
Who does breast cancer affect?
Breast cancer mostly affects women, but it’s possible for men to get breast cancer too.
Although you might not think of men as having breasts, in fact men have some breast tissue, albeit a much smaller amount than women.
How does breast cancer start?
Breast cancer starts when cells in the breast begin to divide and grow in an abnormal way
Breasts contains lobules, which produce milk for breastfeeding. Tubes called ducts carry milk to the nipple.
The most common type of breast cancer starts in the ducts. Less commonly, breast cancer can start in the lobules.
Male Breast Cancer
All people, whether male or female, are born with some breast cells and tissue. Even though males do not develop milk-producing breasts, a man’s breast cells and tissue can still develop cancer. Even so, male breast cancer is very rare. Less than one percent of all breast cancer cases develop in men, and only one in a thousand men will ever be diagnosed with breast cancer.
Breast cancer in men is usually detected as a hard lump underneath the nipple and areola. Men carry a higher mortality than women do, primarily because awareness among men is less and they are less likely to assume a lump is breast cancer, which can cause a delay in seeking treatment.
Infiltrating Ductal Carcinoma
Of the men who develop breast cancer, the vast majority of those cases are Infiltrating Ductal Carcinoma (IDC), which means cells in or around the ducts begin to invade surrounding tissue.