Breast cancer
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Aromatase inhibitors p. 680
breast cancer p. 727
Axillary lymph nodes
breast cancer and p. 674
BRCA1/BRCA2 genes p. 222
breast cancer and p. 674
Breast cancer
hypercalcemia and p. 221
incidence/mortality of p. 202
key associations p. 731
oncogenes and p. 222
paclitaxel for p. 449
paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration and p. 221
postmenopausal women p. 727
tamoxifen for p. 450
trastuzumab for p. 450
tumor suppressor genes and p. 222
Breast tumors (malignant) p. 674-675
aromatase inhibitors for p. 680
breastfeeding and p. 652
hormonal contraception contraindication p. 681
Estrogen p. 654, 680
benign breast tumors p. 673
breast cancer p. 674
Inflammatory breast carcinoma p. 674
Lymph drainage
malignant breast tumors p. 674
Obesity
breast cancer risks p. 674
Tamoxifen p. 450, 680
for breast cancer p. 727
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Transcript
Breast cancer, or breast carcinoma, is an uncontrolled growth of epithelial cells within the breast. It’s the second most common cancer in women, but can also, on rare occasion, affect men as well.
Breast cancer is also the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women after lung cancer. This is largely due to the fact that oftentimes breast cancers don’t cause any pain or discomfort until they’ve spread to nearby tissues.
The breasts are milk-producing glands that sit on the chest wall, on either side of the breast-bone. They lie on top of the ribs and the pectoral muscles, and they’re divided into three main parts.
The glandular tissue that makes the milk, is made up of 15 to 20 lobules. Inside each of these lie a bunch of grape-like structures called the alveoli, which are modified sweat glands surrounded by a basement membrane made largely of collagen.
Zooming in on the alveoli, there’s a layer of alveolar cells that secrete breast milk into the lumen which is the space in the center of the gland.
Wrapping around the alveolus are special myoepithelial cells that squeeze down and push the milk out of the lumen of the alveolus, down the lactiferous ducts, and out one of the pores on the nipple.
Now, surrounding the glandular tissue is the stroma, which contains adipose or fat tissue, and this makes up the majority of the breast.
Suspensory ligaments called Cooperʼs ligaments, run through the stroma and help keep it in place. These ligaments attach to the inner surface of the breast skin on one end and the pectoralis muscles on the other.
Just below the skin over the breast, there’s a network of tiny lymphatic vessels that drain the lymph, which is a fluid containing cellular waste products and white blood cells. These lymphatic vessels mainly drain into a group of lymph nodes in the axilla, or the armpit.
Sources
- "Robbins Basic Pathology" Elsevier (2017)
- "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, Twentieth Edition (Vol.1 & Vol.2)" McGraw-Hill Education / Medical (2018)
- "Pathophysiology of Disease: An Introduction to Clinical Medicine 8E" McGraw-Hill Education / Medical (2018)
- "CURRENT Medical Diagnosis and Treatment 2020" McGraw-Hill Education / Medical (2019)
- "Mammographic Density and the Risk and Detection of Breast Cancer" New England Journal of Medicine (2007)
- "Effect of physical inactivity on major non-communicable diseases worldwide: an analysis of burden of disease and life expectancy" The Lancet (2012)
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