Breast Disease  Breast Cancer
Striking women of all backgrounds, breast cancer is the second most common cancer affecting women (after skin cancer) and the second leading cause of death in women (after lung cancer).
Some figures help to sketch its impact in this country:
- Approximately one in eight, or 13% of women, will develop invasive breast cancer;
- In 2007, about 178,000 women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer;
- About 40,000 women will die of the disease;
- There are over 2 million breast cancer survivors today;
- Over $8 billion per year is spent on treatment every year.
Like cancer in other parts of the body, breast cancer involves the abnormal growth, multiplication, and spread of cells.
Most commonly, breast cancer begins in the ducts that carry milk to the nipple (called ductal carcinomas).
Less commonly, lobular carcinomas are those that develop in the cells lining the lobules that produce milk.
When a ductal or lobular carcinoma does not spread beyond the original duct or lobe, it is termed in situ; cancers that spread to other tissues are called invasive cancers.
Even more uncommon are breast sarcomas, which originate in the bone, muscle, fat, or connective tissue.
Breast cancer may be either hormone negative, or hormone positive.
Hormone status significantly impacts the type of treatment a patient receives and also impacts prognosis.
Hormone negative breast tumors are associated with a worse outcome and an increased risk of recurrence.
Read more about breast cancer treatment.
Women carrying inherited mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have an extremely high lifetime risk for developing breast and/or ovarian cancer.
Moreover, breast cancer occurs at an earlier age in mutation carriers, and a higher prevalence of adverse pathological features has been reported in breast cancers occurring in BRCA1 mutation carriers.
Read more in the Clinical Breast Cancer Program's genetic counseling program.
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