Breast Cancer Overview

By Antin. Breast cancer is one of the most common diseases in women around the world. Breast cancer is more common in women, but men do get breast cancer as well. Breast cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the cells of female and male breast tissue. It is a well-known fact that 80% of such situations are discovered because of a lump in the breast or near the armpit. Breast cancer remains the most common of cancers affecting women. Breast cancer kills more women than any other kind, except lung cancer. About 150,000 women in the United States develop breast cancer each year, and 25 percent die of the disease. This is why women all over the world are encouraged to give themselves a self-breast examination every month.

The most important overall factor associated with breast cancer risk is age. Breast cancer risk increases in the older post-menopausal population. For this reason, all breast cancer screening recommendations are based primarily on age. Cancer of the breast may occur as early as the teens, but this is rare. It is generally not found before the age of 30, and the incidence peaks around the time of menopause. Then there is a second period after the age of about 65 when the incidence rises again.

Obesity, however, may be the single most preventable risk factor associated with breast cancer. With the dramatic increase in obesity in the U.S., this may be the number one reason for a persistently high incidence in breast cancer. Other physical factors also play some roles in breast cancer risk. These include height, body shape, breast size, and mammographic density.

Most studies have found that heavier women (weighing more than 175 pounds) have a lower risk of breast cancer before menopause and higher risk of breast cancer after menopause, compared to thinner women (weighing less than 130 pounds). Several human studies have found that women who carry more of their body fat on their stomach (apple shaped) have higher rates of postmenopausal breast cancer compared to women with more of their body fat around their hips (pear shaped). Taller women (5′ 9″ or taller) have a small increase in risk of both premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer compared to shorter women (5′ 3″ or shorter). Mammographic density appears to be predictive for developing invasive cancer after DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ). Increasing density is associated with increasing breast cancer risk in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women, with the effect persisting for ten years after mammography.

After writing this breast cancer article, I think you will be interested in reading: Categories of Cancer


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