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Breast cancer health centre

Breast cancer overview

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women in the UK. About 45,000 cases are diagnosed every year. Often, there are no symptoms of breast cancer, but signs of breast cancer can include a breast lump or an abnormal mammogram. Breast cancer stages range from early, curable breast cancer to metastatic breast cancer, with a variety of breast cancer treatments. In addition, around 300 men in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, and male breast cancer must be taken seriously.

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Breast cancer: Sex and intimacy

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Understanding breast cancer - the basics

What is breast cancer?

Before discussing breast cancer, it's important to be familiar with the anatomy of the breast. The normal breast consists of milk-producing glands that are connected to the surface of the skin at the nipple by narrow ducts. The glands and ducts are supported by connective tissue made up of fat and fibrous material. Blood vessels, nerves, and channels to the lymph nodes make up most of the rest of the breast tissue. The breast, all the things just mentioned, sit under the skin but on top of the chest muscles.

As in all forms of cancer, the abnormal tissue that makes up breast cancer is the patient's own cells that have multiplied uncontrollably. Those cells may also travel to locations in the body where they are not normally needed, which means the cancer is malignant.

Understanding breast cancer - the basics