Who gets it
Nearly one in three cancers occurs in the breast and 80 per cent of cases in the UK are diagnosed in women over the age of 50. Men can also get breast cancer, although it is rare. In 2000 there were around 40,700 cases of breast cancer diagnosed in women, and around 300 in men, in the UK.
Unfortunately Britain has one of the highest death rates of breast cancer in the world, but more people are surviving as cancer is being detected and treated earlier.
What is it?
Breast cancer is a kind of tumour (lump of abnormal cells) that develops in the cells of a person's breast - specifically in the milk-producing glands, or in the passages or ducts that deliver milk to the nipples.
What causes it? What are my risks?
We do not yet know exactly what causes breast cancer, but we do know that certain factors are linked to the disease. Apart from being common in women, there are three other main factors that increase the risk of developing breast cancer.
Age
The risk of developing breast cancer increases as you get older. Four out of every five women diagnosed with breast cancer are over 50 years old. So teenagers and women in their '20s and '30s are very unlikely to get it.
Family history or a previous diagnosis
The risk of getting breast cancer is higher in women who have previously had breast cancer, and also if there have been several cases of breast cancer in their family history.
Lifestyle choices
The risk of developing breast cancer is increased by smoking, drinking lots of alcohol, eating too much fatty food and not enough fruit and veg, and not exercising regularly.
Symptoms
Women should be breast aware! If you know what is normal for you, you are best able to spot any changes that may be a symptom of breast cancer. For example:
- pain in your breast that seems unrelated to your period
- a new lump, bump, or other change in your breast that you are concerned about
- a red, hot, or swollen breast
- fluid or bloody discharge from your nipple or change in the position of it
- a lump in your armpit
Nine in ten breast lumps are not cancers, and all of these symptoms may have other causes. However, if any of these changes do occur you must talk to your doctor as soon as possible.
Every three years, all women in the UK between the ages of 50 and 70 are invited to have a mammogram (an X-ray of the breasts). This NHS breast screening programme currently screens over one-and-a-half million women each year with the aim of reducing the number of deaths from this disease.
Treatment
The type of treatment depends on what stage the cancer has developed to. These are the main treatment options for breast cancer.
Surgery
There are two types. Breast-conserving surgery removes only the tumour from the breast, and a mastectomy involves removing the whole breast.
Radiotherapy
High-energy beams of radiation are focused on the breast, (where the cancer was removed), to destroy cancer cells that may linger after surgery, and reduce the risk of recurrence.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy involves using strong drugs to destroy the cancer cells. Having chemotherapy before surgery shrinks the size of the tumour, so that the person needs less surgery. Having chemotherapy after surgery reduces the chance of it spreading or coming back.
Hormone and biological therapy
Treatment with hormones to control the cancer cells' growth.
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