What Is Breast Cancer?
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women in Northern Ireland. While the incidence of breast cancer is infrequent in women under 40 years of age, the risk increases with age – 1 in 12 women will develop breast cancer before the age of 75. However, encouragingly, more women than ever are surviving breast cancer with early detection being a key to survival.
Breast cancer occurs when cells in a woman’s breast tissue start to grow abnormally. Breast cancer can be benign (staying within the breast) or malignant (able to spread outside of the breast). There are several different types of breast cancer. The term ‘breast cancer’ usually refers to the most common type, which is called adenocarcinoma. Other types of breast cancer include ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS). Treatment of the disease depends upon the type of breast cancer diagnosed in a woman (National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre 2003). Breast cancer is usually a slow growing cancer. If the disease spreads it can invade the lymph nodes under the armpit, and can then invade other tissues such as the bones and the lungs. This is called metastatic disease (National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre 2003). Outcomes for women with breast cancer are improving over time. This is probably due to early detection through screening and more effective treat
Lumpectomy On-Line Study Nutrition and Breast Cancer Health Seminars Mastectomy Chemotherapy Radiation Cancer Info Directory Side Effects of Treatment Support Group Meetings Men Get Breast Cancer Too Library Resources Inflammatory Breast Cancer 10 Ways to Manage Fear Glossary Therapies Manual Lymph Drainage
