October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer diagnosed in women in the United States (after skin cancer). While breast cancer does occur in both men and women, it’s far more common in women. Public support for breast cancer awareness and research funding has improved the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Early detection, new treatments, and a better understanding of the disease have all contributed to higher breast cancer survival rates.
As in all forms of cancer, the abnormal tissue that makes up breast cancer is the patient’s own cells that have multiplied uncontrollably. Those cells may also travel to locations in the body where they are not normally found. When that happens, the cancer is called metastatic. Breast cancer usually begins with the formation of a small, confined tumor (lump), or as calcium deposits (microcalcifications), and then spreads through channels within the breast to the lymph nodes or through the blood stream to other organs. The tumor can grow and expand to tissue around the breast, such as the skin or chest wall. Different types of breast cancer grow and spread at different rates, with some types taking years to spread beyond the breast and others growing and spreading quickly.
Fortunately, breast cancer is very treatable if detected early. Early detection, however, has become our most powerful weapon against breast cancer. Mammograms, clinical breast exams, and breast self-examination have all been enormously effective in the early detection and treatment of breast cancer. Talk to your physician about the best methods for you.
To read the entire PDF by Best Doctors, click  here.
