There will be an estimated 175,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer in the coming year. Approximately 44,000 women will die from this disease this year. Yet, when tumors are detected very early, the survival rate is about 90 percent. Therefore, it is especially important to know the facts about breast cancer and early detection of this disease. Breast cancer cells spread throughout the breast tissue, into the lymph nodes, and finally, through the remainder of the body.
Cancer cells interfere with and overrun the functioning of normal body cells.
Without treatment, cancer cells continue to grow, crowding out and replacing healthy cells. For many years, researchers have tried to find out what causes a normal cell to turn into a cancer cell. Discoveries in recent years point to changes in genes as a way for cancer cells to begin to grow. The process by which cancer develops in the body usually takes years. However, there are some factors that increase the risk for cancer.