If you suffer from breast cancer, or you know someone who has been diagnosed with this disease, then chances are that you will want to learn more about breast cancer, and what it means. People who have received such a diagnosis of cancer have a malignant tumor that has developed within the normal cells of the breast. In some cases, these malignant tumors start small and are barely unnoticeable, before they gradually begin growing over time, invading the surrounding organs and tissue of the breast.
Breast cancer can take place within women and men alike, but it's generally more common in women. According to information taken by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is also considered to be the most common cancer for women in America, regardless of race. When you decide to learn more about breast cancer, it may be helpful to know that in recent years, the survival rate and prognosis for people diagnosed with this disease has seen significant improvement. In large part, this improved outlook has been attributed to both increased awareness, as well as the presence of various funded research organizations.
The Different Types of Breast Cancer:
One way to learn more about breast cancer is to think about the different types and frequencies of this disease, and the different ways in which people can suffer with the condition. Some forms of breast cancer are more common than others. For instance, invasive ductal carcinomas are the most common form of breast cancer in the world today. Eighty percent of all breast cancer cases are defined as invasive ductal carcinomas, and in this type of the disease, the cancerous cells begin in the milk ducts of the breast and spread to surrounding tissue. Invasive lobular carcinoma is another form of breast cancer that affects around ten percent of all people with this disease. This condition starts within the lobules, or the glands responsible for producing milk.
A somewhat less common form of breast cancer is inflammatory breast cancer, or IBC. This condition accounts for slightly more than 1% of all cancer diagnoses at this time. In this set of circumstances, the lymph nodes of the breast are blocked. Though this cancer doesn't lead to a tumor, it can cause your breast to swell, and often changes the appearance of the skin of the breast. Furthermore, there is a rarer form of breast cancer called "Paget's disease", and this accounts for only around 1 percent of all cases of breast cancer in the world.
How Common Is Breast Cancer Overall?
If you suffer from breast cancer, then it's important to know that you're not alone. In fact, this form of the disease is actually very common. Every year, more than 232,000 women in the USA are diagnosed with some form of invasive breast cancer, and an additional 64,000 women across the country receive a diagnosis of in situ breast cancer. Overall, the number of women who die from breast cancer on an annual basis is around 40,000, though prognoses are becoming more positive as the years go by.