It's hard to find a woman who doesn't worry that one day she will get breast cancer. But breast cancer is not exclusively a female issue. Men get breast cancer as well, just at a lower frequency. However, understanding what cancer is and what makes someone at high risk for cancer can make it easier for to understand your personal risk and find screening and prevention strategies that are right for you.
Where Does Breast Cancer Begin?
All cancers begin when some cells change and experience out-of-control growth. Eventually, these cells gain the ability to invade surrounding tissues. In the case of breast cancer, this change can occur in any of the tissues that make up the breasts.
Even before breast cancer develops, a number of noncancerous changes can occur to cells that may increase a woman's chances of developing breast cancer. These are called "marker" conditions because they mark a location that may become cancerous in the future.
References:
B. MacMahon, P. Cole and J. Brown. (1973). Etiology of human breast cancer: a review. J Natl Cancer Inst. 50(1):21-42.
J. L. Kelsey and M. D. Gammon. (1990). Epidemiology of breast cancer. Epidemiol Rev. 12(228-40).
