31 Days of Breast Cancer Awareness - What is Breast Cancer?

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and today is the beginning of my monthlong series of posts related to this cause.

This is the 4th year that I have used one of my blogs to share this cause and while most of the time I blog about fashion, beauty, the activities and events that I get into, I will also share other more important things that I am passionate about here.

I am not an expert on this subject by any means, but finding a cure and helping to raise awareness is a really big deal for me, so I have spent hours reading and extracting data from numerous sources in an effort to provide as much valuable information as I can.

Hopefully these snippets will encourage you to seek out more information on your own and share it with others.

So, here we go.

I am starting off with basic information that speaks to the question:

What is Breast Cancer?

The female breast is made up mainly of milk-producing glands called lobules , ducts which are tiny tubes that carry the milk from the lobules to the nipple and stroma, the fatty tissue and connective tissue surrounding the ducts and lobules, blood vessels, and lymphatic vessels.

All parts of the body experience gene controlled growth and rest cycles. When the genes are working as normal, the growth of the cells in the breast are controlled but when they develop an abnormality, they sometimes lose their ability to control these cycles.

In the breast, these uncontrolled cycles develop what is known as a malignant tumor, which is called breast cancer.

Breast cancer may invade surrounding tissues or spread (metastasize) to distant areas of the body. It develops mainly in the cells that line the ducts (ductal cancers) or in the cells that line the lobules (lobular cancers).

Breast profile:
A) Ducts
B) Lobules
C) Dilated section of duct to hold milk
D) Nipple
E) Fat
F) Pectoralis major muscle
G) Chest wall/rib cage

Enlargement
A) Normal duct cells B) Basement membrane C) Lumen (center of duct)

While only 5–10% of cancers are thought to be inherited from your mother OR father, 90% of breast cancers are due to genetic abnormalities that occur as a result of the aging process and life in general.


Sources: Cancer.org Breastcancer.org