Knowledge of breast cancer dates back to early human civilizations, its palpable mark of lumps and tumors long associated with the illness and death that follow if left untreated. Though breast cancer tends to emanate from cells within the breasts of women beyond a certain age, the disease can cross lines of age and gender.
How Breast Cancer Forms
Breast cancer forms when cells within breast tissue turn cancerous and form tumors, according to the American Cancer Society. Changes within DNA, a genetic code present in all life, cause normally healthy breast cells to become cancerous. Unlike many other types of cancer and disease that often go undetected to the eye or touch, breast cancer typically forms visible, tactile lumps beneath the skin. The body contains certain genes that tend to fight off tumor growth. When these genes mutate, cancer can form.
Origins in the Body
In women, cancerous breast tumors usually form in the areas of breasts that produce milk for nursing or in the milk ducts themselves, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles reports. From there, cancer cells break into the surrounding breast tissue and -- if untreated -- spread to other parts of the body, according to the Mayo Clinic. Less common types of breast cancer originate in the supporting breast tissue or spread from cancer that began in other parts of the body.
Risk Factors for Breast Cancer
Cedars-Sinai lists several risk factors for the formation of breast cancer, including merely being female. About 75 percent of all breast cancer cases originate in women older than 50, making age one of the leading risk factors. Women who never had children, birthed children after the age of 30 or whose mothers or sisters developed breast cancer all fall into higher risk categories.
Breast Cancer Detection
One of the most medically recommended forms of breast cancer detection remains breast self-exams, typically performed by using the eyes and hands to examine one's breasts for lumps or other irregularities. Mammography, photographing the inside of the breast to check for tumors and other growths, is also recommended among certain age groups and others at higher risk for breast cancer.
Misconceptions
Though breast cancer is largely a disease of women, men also can suffer from it. Cedars-Sinai reports that doctors diagnose about 1,600 men every year with breast cancer, many of them falling into the same age groups as women who are most at risk. Just as with women, breast cancer in men can be cured if discovered and treated early.
Tags: breast cancer, breast tissue, Breast Cancer, cells within, higher risk, other parts
