BREAST CANCER – CHROMOSOME 1
K. MERRILL PERKINS
POST UNIVERSITY

Overview
The female breast is made up mainly of lobules (milk-producing glands), ducts (tubes that carry the milk from the glands to the nipple), and stroma (fatty tissue and connective tissue surrounding the ducts and lobules, blood vessels, and lymphatic vessels). Cancer is a broad term for a class of diseases characterized by abnormal cells that grow and invade healthy cells in the body. Breast cancer starts in the cells of the breast as a group of cancer cells that can then invade surrounding tissues or spread (metastasize) to other areas of the body. Breast cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the breast. The damaged cells can invade surrounding tissue, but with early detection and treatment, most people continue a normal life.
Heritary Patterns
Many cancers begin when one or more genes in a cell are mutated, creating an abnormal protein or no protein at all. The information provided by an abnormal protein is different from that of a normal protein, which can cause cells to multiply uncontrollably and become cancerous.
A person may either be born with a genetic mutation in all of their cells or acquire a genetic mutation in a single cell during his or her lifetime. An acquired mutation is passed on to all cells that develop from that single cell (called a somatic mutation). Somatic mutations can sometimes be caused by environmental factors, such as cigarette smoke. Most breast cancers are considered sporadic, meaning that the damage to the genes occurs by chance after a person is born and there is no risk of passing on the gene to a person's children. Inherited breast cancers are less common (5% to 10%) and occur when gene mutations are passed within a family from one generation to the next.
Types of Testing
There exists many forms of testing. Some common types of breast examinations are: * Ultrasounds * Mammograms * Breast Self-exams * Breast physical exams
Risk Factors
We do not yet know exactly what causes breast cancer, we do know that certain risk factors are linked to the disease. Some risk factors, such as smoking, drinking, and diet are linked to things a person does. These risk factors can be changes. There are some risk factors that cannot be changed, such as age, genetics, family history, personal history, etc.