Cancer · In-depth guide
Breast Cancer
The most common cancer in women. Risk factors, screening with mammography, diagnosis, staging and treatment.
Medically reviewed byGerald Hurowitz, M.D.Updated 9 January 20122 min read
Key points
- Breast cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the breast.
- The damaged cells can invade surrounding tissue, but with early detection and treatment, most people continue a normal life.
- In a healthy body, natural systems control the creation, growth and death of cells.
- But when these systems malfunction, more cell growth than death can occur.
Explore Breast Cancer
What is breast cancer?
Breast cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the breast. The damaged cells can invade surrounding tissue, but with early detection and treatment, most people continue a normal life.
In a healthy body, natural systems control the creation, growth and death of cells. But when these systems malfunction, more cell growth than death can occur. The result is a mass of tissue we call a malignant tumor - or cancer. And when this process takes place in the breast, it's breast cancer. Tumors in the breast tend to grow slowly; by the time a lump is large enough to feel, it may have been growing for as long as 10 years. Some tumors, however, are aggressive and grow much faster.
Gynecologic Cancers
All Breast Cancer pages
2,081 pagesGuides and reference
- The Breast Cancer Alternative Hypothesis
- Using Breast Density to Predict Breast Cancer Risk
- Screening for Breast Cancer - Conclusion
- Other Screening Tests
- Quality Assurance
- Guidelines and Risk-Based Screening
- Sensitivity, Specificity, and Positive Predictive Value
- Mammography Trials and Meta-Analyses
+ 43 more
- Evaluation of Breast Cancer Screening
- Disease Burden - Screening for Breast Cancer
- Principles of Cancer Screening
- Screening for Breast Cancer - Introduction
- Breast Cancer in Black Women
- Breast Cancer after Childhood Cancer
- Optimizing the Antihormonal Treatment and Prevention of Breast Cancer
- Gene Therapy for Breast Cancer
- Modifying the risk associated with obesity
- Treatment-related factors
- Tumor-related factors
- Possible mechanisms linking obesity to breast cancer
- Obesity and Breast Cancer
- Using Breast Density to Predict Breast Cancer Risk
- Nipple Problems and Discharge
- Fibrocystic Breast
- Identifying women at high risk for breast cancer
- Breast Cancer - Looking at lifestyle
- What measurable risk factors are associated with breast cancer?
- Breast cancer and the postmenopausal woman
- Mastodynia
- Breast cancer risk is increased in women with prenatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol
- Carcinoma of the Male Breast
- Breast Cancer Palliative Treatment
- Breast Cancer & Risks of Pregnancy
- Follow-Up Care
- Prognosis
- Chemotherapy - Breast Cancer Palliative Treatment
- Breast Cancer Curative Treatment - Adjuvant Systemic Therapy
- Curative Treatment - Recommendations
- Curative Treatment
- Hormone Receptor Sites
- Special Clinical Forms of Breast Cancer
- Breast Cancer Differential Diagnosis
- Clinical Clues to Early Detection of Breast Cancer
- Early Detection of Breast Cancer
- Carcinoma of the Female Breast
- Disorders of the Augmented Breast
- Breast Abscess
- Fat Necrosis
- Nipple Discharge
- Fibroadenoma of the Breast
- Fibrocystic Condition
Breast Cancer in the elderly19
- Conclusion
- Patterns of Care
- Quality of Life in Older Women with Breast Cancer
- Metastatic Breast Cancer
- Summary
- Chemotherapy
- Tamoxifen
- Adjuvant Systemic Therapy
+ 11 more
- Alternative Management Strategies for Local Disease
- Axillary Lymph Node Assessment
- Radiation Therapy Following Breast - Conserving Surgery
- Invasive Breast Cancer: Early-Stage Disease
- Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (Intraductal Carcinoma)
- Treatment
- Prevention of Breast Cancer
- Biology and Natural History of Breast Cancer in the Elderly
- Genetics and Risk
- Risk Factors
- Epidemiology
Breast Anatomy and Development11
Breast Cancer Causes25
- Future Directions in Breast Cancer Genetics
- Li-Fraumeni Syndrome
- Hereditary Breast Cancer Syndromes
- How Much Breast Cancer is Inherited?
- Familial Breast Cancer in Nonwhite Populations
- Epidemiologic Studies of Familial Breast Cancer
- Breast Cancer Inherited Genetic Factors
- Epidemiology and Nongenetic Causes of Breast Cancer
+ 17 more
- Prevention of Breast Cancer
- Attributable Risk: The Quantitative Contribution of known risk factors
- Etiologic Summary
- Occupation - Epidemiology and Nongenetic Causes of Breast Cancer
- Environmental Pollution
- Ionizing Radiation
- Physical Activity
- Diet and Breast Cancer Survival
- Other Dietary Constituents
- Dietary Fiber - Dietary Factors
- Dietary Factors
- Low-Penetrance Genotypes and Gene-Environment Interactions
- Postmenopausal Hormone Use
- Oral Contraceptives
- Endogenous Sex Hormone Levels
- Reproductive Factors
- Descriptive Epidemiology of Breast Cancer
Biology of High Risk Benign Breast Lesions9
Radiation therapy for Breast Cancer9
- Radiation Therapy for Invasive Breast Cancer: Not Just for Local Control
- Radiation Therapy Conclusion
- Radiation Therapy - Palliation
- Radiation Therapy Local Recurrence
- Radiation Therapy for Locally Advanced Breast Cancer
- Radiation Therapy for Axillary Control
- Radiation Treatment Side Effects
- Radiation Therapy for Early-Stage Breast Cancer
Hereditary Breast Cancer11
- Hereditary Breast Cancer Summary
- Prevention Strategies for Women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 Mutations
- Surveillance Options for Individuals with BRCA1 or BRCA2 Mutations
- Clinical Aspects of BRCA-Associated Breast and Ovarian Cancer
- Cancer Risks in Individuals with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 Mutation
- Other Causes of Hereditary Breast Cancer
- Ethnic Status and Mutation Prevalence - Hereditary Breast Cancer
- Probability of Detecting Mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2
Breast Imaging8
Surgical Treatment of Breast Cancer12
Adjuvant Therapy of Breast Cancer9
- Adjuvant Therapy of Breast Cancer
- New Approaches for Adjuvant Therapy
- Assessment of Risk and Choice of Adjuvant Therapy
- Role of High-Dose Chemotherapy for High-Risk Breast Cancer
- Beyond CMF: The Use of Doxorubicin and Taxane-Containing Regimens
- Chemotherapy in the Adjuvant Setting
- Ovarian Ablation
- Tamoxifen and the Risk of Contralateral Breast Cancer: Role as a Chemopreventive Agent
+ 1 more
Benign Breast Diseases27
- Benign Breast Diseases: Classification, Diagnosis, and Management
- Gynecomastia
- Mondor Disease
- Granulomatous Lesions of the Breast
- Sclerosing Lymphocytic Lobulitis / Diabetic Mastopathy
- Fibromatosis of the breast
- Epithelial Hyperplasia
- Rare Benign Disorders of the Breast
+ 19 more
- Sclerosing Adenosis
- Radial Scar
- Fat necrosis of the breast
- Breast hematoma
- Nonlactating Breast Infection
- Breast Abscess
- Duct Papilloma
- Multiple Peripheral Papillomas
- Periductal Mastitis
- Mammary-Duct Fistula
- Duct Ectasia
- Cysts
- Phyllodes Tumor
- Hamartoma
- Fibroadenoma
- Nodularity
- Breast Pain
- General Approach to Patients Presenting with Benign Breast Disease
- Benign Breast Diseases
Breast Cancer Risk Factors, Screening and Prevention4
Menopausal Health After Breast Cancer5
Gynecologic Problems in Patients with Breast Cancer11
- Gynecologic Problems in Patients with Breast Cancer
- Prophylactic Oophorectomy and breast cancer
- Uterine or Ovarian Enlargement in patients with breast cancer
- Tamoxifen Use and Endometrial Abnormalities
- Urinary Incontinence in patients with breast cancer
- Uterine or Vaginal Prolapse
- Dyspareunia in patients with breast cancer
- Abnormal Vaginal Bleeding and breast cancer
Sexuality and Breast Cancer Survivorship4
Technologies for the Early Detection of Breast Cancer14
- Early Detection of Breast Cancer: Summary
- Dilemma of "Earlier" detection
- Radiation Sensitivity and Breast Cancer Screening
- Limitations of current technologies - breast cancer detection
- Current practice of breast cancer detection
- Theory and principles of cancer screening
- Developing Technologies for the Early Detection of Breast Cancer
- Technology dissemination
Breast Cancer news
All 1,853 news stories →Written and revised by
Gerald Hurowitz, M.D.
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