Breast Cancer

Breast cancer heterogeneity no barrier to predictive testing, study shows

Breast cancers contain many different cell types with different patterns of gene expression, but a new study provides reassurance that this variability should not be a barrier to using gene expression tests to help tailor ...

Cancer created May 02, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Study opens new prospects for developing new targeted therapies for breast cancer

A study led by prominent breast cancer experts from Europe and the US has revealed a number of potentially important prospects for targeted therapies, and brings opportunities of truly personalised therapy for breast cancer ...

Cancer created May 02, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Exercise-related changes in estrogen metabolism may lower breast cancer risk

Changes in estrogen breakdown, or metabolism, may be one of the mechanisms by which aerobic exercise lowers a woman's breast cancer risk, according to data published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a jour ...

Cancer created May 07, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Free testosterone drives cancer aggressiveness, study finds

What is the reason for the widely reported fact that men are more likely than women to die of cancer? New evidence from population studies suggests that free testosterone could be a key driver of cancer aggressiveness in ...

Cancer created May 14, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

What is BRCA1?

Actress Angelina Jolie has today written an op-ed in the New York Times explaining that she has opted to have a double mastectomy because she carries the hereditary BRCA1 gene, which she says increases her risk o ...

Cancer created May 15, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 2

Deficiency in p53 anti-tumor protein delays DNA repair after radiation

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have found that a deficiency in an important anti-tumor protein, p53, can slow or delay DNA repair after radiation treatment. They suggest that this is because p53 regulates the expression ...

Cancer created Apr 23, 2013 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Coffee may help prevent breast cancer returning, study finds

Drinking coffee could decrease the risk of breast cancer recurring in patients taking the widely used drug Tamoxifen, a study at Lund University in Sweden has found. Patients who took the pill, along with ...

Cancer created Apr 25, 2013 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0


Breast cancer (malignant breast neoplasm) is a type of cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas. Breast cancer is a disease of humans and other mammals; while the overwhelming majority of cases in humans are women, men can sometimes also develop breast cancer.

The size, stage, rate of growth, and other characteristics of the tumor determine the kinds of treatment. Treatment may include surgery, drugs (hormonal therapy and chemotherapy), radiation and/or immunotherapy. Surgical removal of the tumor provides the single largest benefit, with surgery alone being capable of producing a cure in many cases. To somewhat increase the likelihood of long-term disease-free survival, several chemotherapy regimens are commonly given in addition to surgery. Most forms of chemotherapy kill cells that are dividing rapidly anywhere in the body, and as a result cause temporary hair loss and digestive disturbances. Radiation is indicated especially after breast conserving surgery and substantially improves local relapse rates and in many circumstances also overall survival. Some breast cancers are sensitive to hormones such as estrogen and/or progesterone, which makes it possible to treat them by blocking the effects of these hormones.

Worldwide, breast cancer comprises 22.9% of all cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers) in women. In 2008, breast cancer caused 458,503 deaths worldwide (13.7% of cancer deaths in women). Breast cancer is more than 100 times more common in women than breast cancer in men, although males tend to have poorer outcomes due to delays in diagnosis.

Prognosis and survival rate varies greatly depending on cancer type, staging and treatment. However, survival rates across the world are generally good. Overall more than 8 out of 10 women (84%) in England that are diagnosed with the disease survive it for at least 5 years.

This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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