Breast Cancer Information, News and Updates

The popular hospital drama Grey’s Anatomy has been a supporter of the breast cancer cause through their Warriors in Pink campaign and also through featuring breast cancer on air. The episode that aired on November 13, 2005 titled “Let It Be” was about breast cancer and the BRCA (BReast CAncer gene).

The episode had a patient in her mid-30s who had a positive test result for a BRCA and insisted on having a prophylactic (preventive) surgery to remove her breasts and ovaries, despite her husband’s objections.Testing positive for a BRCA gene mutation, along with a family history of breast cancer, increases a woman’s lifetime chance of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer, from 13 percent to between 36 to 85 percent. However, not all women who inherit an altered gene will develop breast or ovarian cancer and most women do not need to be tested.

Those who test positive for BRCA may consider prophylactic (preventive) mastectomy, which is the surgical removal of one or both breasts to reduce the risk of breast cancer by about 90 percent. This may be an option for a woman whose mother, sister, or daughter had breast cancer, especially if they were diagnosed before age 50. This surgery does not, however, offer a guarantee against developing cancer.

There are many issues surrounding prophylactic surgery, including psychological and physical effects due to the change in body image and loss of normal breast function. You should discuss the alternatives to surgery with your doctor.

Many men do not realize that they are also at risk of developing breast cancer.  The risk factor is much smaller in men, but they do have breast tissue and they are at risk of developing this disease.  Before puberty, young women and boys have small amounts of breast tissue with just a few ducts.  When they reach puberty, a young woman’s ovaries start producing hormones that cause the breast ducts to grow and develop lobules (milk glands) to form on the ends.  A young boy’s testosterone level raises and prevents any further growth of breast tissue.

The cells of a man’s breast can undergo changes and become cancerous.  They have less breast tissue so the risk factor is reduced.  Women’s breasts are constantly being fed by female hormones and make the risk of breast cancer higher for women.  Men who have a history of breast cancer in the female side of the family should be aware they are at risk for developing the disease too.

Other breast disorders such as benign tumors are more common in women but can also develop in men’s breasts.  Benign tumors do not spread outside the breast.  They are also not life threatening.  Malignant tumors can be life threatening and may occur in both men and women.

Detecting Breast Cancer

Detecting breast cancer in men is important because it can quickly be carried to the lymph nodes by lymphatic vessels.  Cancer cells entering the lymph nodes are transferred to other organs of the body and the cancer is harder to fight and more deadly.  Breast cancer in men will normally start around the nipple area.

Benign breast disorders are also common in men.  Gynecomastia is one of the most common found in men.  An increase in breast tissue occurs and a small disk or button like growth is found under the nipple.  Normally this isn’t seen but can be felt with the fingertips.  This normally happens in young boys who are experiencing hormonal changes but occur in older men when their hormones become unbalanced.  Tumors or diseases of the endocrine gland can cause this condition, but this is rare.  Liver disease and obesity can cause hormone imbalance and can lead to gynecomastia.

Men may develop adenocarcinoma, which is a breast cancer that starts in the ducts or lobules of the breast.  There are two main types of carcinomas, one is ductal, and the other is lobular carcinoma.  Lobular carcinoma is rare in men because they do not usually have lobular tissue.

Ductal carcinoma in situ is a cancer that fills the ducts but don’t go through the walls to other tissues in the breast or spread outside the breast.  It is usually curable.  Infiltrating ductal carcinoma starts in the breast ducts and metastasizes or spread to other parts of the body.  This cancer accounts for most of breast cancers in men.

You should be aware of any changes in your breasts, including crusting, scaling, and itching around the nipple area.  Do a self-exam to check for any lumps.  This is especially important if you have a family history of breast cancer.

There is a website called AbortionBreastCancer.com that claims there is a link between abortions and breast cancer.

In 1986, government scientists wrote a letter to the British journal Lancet and acknowledged that abortion is a cause of breast cancer.  They wrote, “Induced abortion before first term pregnancy increases the risk of breast cancer.”  (Lancet, 2/22/86, p. 436)

However, over at the Mayo Clinic site, I also found this:

There’s no credible evidence of a link between induced abortion and breast cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Here are some other discussions that you can follow along:

Is the link between abortion and breast cancer proven?

A report from the National Cancer Institute

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