Breast cancer is a malignant tumor of the mammary gland. Malignant cells proliferate profusely creating a tumor, which will attack adjacent healthy tissue if not treated early enough prior to producing metastases in vital organs.
In the developed countries, about 10% women might develop breast cancer during their lifetime (men represent only 1% of breast cancers).
In many countries routine radiographic screening for breast cancer is carried out in women over the age of 50. Genetic predisposition tests are also offered to women with a family history of the disease, allowing increased monitoring and in some cases, earlier detection of cancer onset.
Definitive diagnosis is made upon tumor tissue removal at the moment of surgery; the current trend is to attempt obtaining a complete diagnosis based on biopsy samples prior to any surgery. Microscopic examination allows discriminating benign vs. malignant (cancerous) tumors.
An accurate prognosis (recurrence of the disease and treatment efficiency) is essential for determining the type of treatment to be given. In most cases, treatment for breast cancer involves a combination of different therapies: surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, immunotherapy and today targeted therapy.
Over the last 20 years, significant advance in patient care in turn improved recovery and remission rates.
Today, the survival rate five year following diagnosis is between 76-89% in the developed countries. This improvement would not have been achieved without the combined contributions of research, new drug development and better diagnosis abilities.
