Tumors in the breast

There are different types of breast lumps. The following descriptions and illustraitons provides some details. If you have any questions, follow-up with your doctor. Not all tumors are malignant cancerous.

Each breast contains 15 to 20 lobes of glandular tissue, arranged like the petals of a daisy. The lobes are further divided into smaller lobules that produce milk for breast-feeding. Small tubes ducts conduct the milk to a reservoir that lies just beneath your nipple. After skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women in the United States. Breast cancer can occur in both men and women, but it's far more common in women. Substantial support for breast cancer awareness and research funding has helped created advances in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Breast cancer survival rates have increased, and the number of deaths associated with this disease is steadily declining, largely due to factors such as earlier detection, a new personalized approach to treatment and a better understanding of the disease.

Cancer occurs when changes called mutations take place in genes that regulate cell growth. The mutations let the cells divide and multiply in an uncontrolled way. Breast cancer is cancer that develops in breast cells.

Although breast cancer is often referred to as one disease, there are many different types of breast cancer. Breast cancers differ in other ways. They can be non-invasive or invasive. Tumor cells can vary in location milk ducts or lobules and how they look under a microscope.