About Breast Cancer

Rishi Mantra and Dr Lopamudra Das Roy

Published 2020

What is Cancer?

Cancer is characterized as the development of abnormal cells that divide uncontrollably and possess the ability to infiltrate and demolish normal body tissue [1]. The disease, which is the second leading cause of death in the world, begins when cells go out of control and crowd out normal cells [2]. In a human body which consists of trillions of cells, cancer can start anywhere and has the ability to spread throughout a person's body. It is in a wider sense, a term given to a collection of related diseases, each of which differs in terms of how they spread and grow [3]

What is primary tumor and metastasis?

One of the fundamentals to understanding cancer, is to grasp the meaning of the terms: primary tumor and metastasis.

The term, primary tumor, is used to describe the original tumor in the body [4]. This is where the cancer begins and might proceed to spread from. When doctors try to determine how much and where the cancer is in the body, they first look at the primary tumor [5]. The tumor's size, location and its growth in nearby areas are all important factors that are taken into consideration. The importance of the primary tumor is also evident when doctors try to choose the most appropriate treatments for the cancer. Hence, we often see that the cancer is diagnosed after doctors discover the primary tumor [6]. A case where the primary tumor cannot be found is called a carcinoma of unknown primary and in such cases doctors use exam results, imaging tests and pathology tests to determine the origin of the cancer [7].

**Created by Rishi Mantri, @BreastCancerHub, All Rights Reserved**

Metastasis is the next stage to this disease and is often referred to as stage IV cancer or advanced cancer. It involves the spread of cancer cells from the primary tumor to surrounding tissues and other distant parts of the body. During this process, cancer cells travel through the blood or lymph system. This leads to the formation of new tumors in other organs or tissues of the body. The new metastatic tumor is the same type of cancer as the primary tumor [7]. This metastatic cancer is the primary cause of cancer mortality. It is estimated that metastasis is responsible for 90% of cancer deaths [8].

What is Breast Cancer?

Breast Cancer is a type of cancer that forms in the breast. The disease can occur in both women and men but is far more common in women. It is the second most common cancer in women after skin cancer [9].

There are many types of breast cancer and many ways to understand them. The types of breast cancer are determined by the specific cells in the breast that are affected 10. Breast cancer often begins with cells in the milk-producing ducts (invasive ductal carcinoma) and the glandular tissues called lobules (invasive lobular carcinoma) . The cancerous cells may metastasize through a person's breast to their lymph nodes and other parts of the body 9.

Changes and mutations in DNA are what cause normal breast cells to become cancerous. Such DNA changes can sometimes be inherited and might greatly increase one's risk for breast cancer. In most cases, however, these mutations are acquired over a person's life and are only in the breast cancer cells. Hormones and other lifestyle-related factors also play a significant role [10].

Early detection and action can be of paramount importance while tackling breast cancer. Mammograms can detect breast cancer early and possibly before it has spread [11]. This is because breast cancer cells form a tumor that can be detected through x-rays and can also be felt as a lump. With that said, it is important to know that most breast lumps are benign and not malignant. Non-cancerous breast tumors are also abnormal growths but do not spread. While they might increase a woman's risk of acquiring breast cancer, they are not life threatening.

Treatment for the disease includes methods such as chemotherapy, triple-negative breast cancer and androgen receptor inhibitors [10]. Better understanding of breast cancer has led to a decreased number of deaths. Increased awareness and increased research funding of the disease has also yielded a steady incline in the breast cancer survival rate [9].

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