Sources that provide breast cancer information are generally committed to disseminating as much knowledge and hope as they can in order to raise the level of people’s participation in the fight against breast cancer. Along with supporting research programs in the top facilities all across the United States, many organizations pick up the tab for mammograms for women who could otherwise not afford them.

Anyone seeking breast cancer information has a multitude of resources available to them. There is the National Breast Cancer Foundation, the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, and many other large and small organizations that provide not only breast cancer information, but also offer online blogs, discussion groups and support groups among other services. Most of these organizations provide the information in an up-to-date format to breast cancer patients and their loved ones, professionals in the health industry and the public. Specialists are typically available in order to translate information into the common layperson’s language and respond in English, Spanish, or on TTY equipment.

Family history, reproductive history, diet, hormone usage, and radiation exposure are a few of the many factors that doctors say appear to increase a person’s risk of developing breast cancer. Even with the recognition of such risk factors, about 70 percent of the women who develop breast cancer don’t show any of these.</>

The age at which a woman experiences menopause can be another breast cancer risk factor. There is a slightly decreased risk of the disease developing in a woman with natural menopause occurring before she turns 45 relative to a woman who experiences natural menopause between the ages of 45-54.

In the United States, breast cancer is diagnosed in women at a rate higher than almost every other form of cancer, the exception being the disease of skin cancer. Another reality about breast cancer is that it is the second leading cause of death in women next to lung cancer.

Some of the other sad facts related to breast cancer are that the National Breast Cancer Foundation estimates that about 200,000 women are diagnosed with having this disease each and every year. Of these women, there will be more than 40,000 who will not survive their battle.

The disease of breast cancer can also attack men. The National Breast Cancer Foundation states that about 1,700 men are diagnosed with the disease annually and more than 450 of these men will succumb to its deadly symptoms.

The disease of breast cancer is brought on by the formation in the tissues of the breast of malignant (cancer-causing) cells. It is the type of disease that medical terminology calls heterogeneous, meaning that its occurrence will vary depending on the individual, age group and the types of cells inside the malignant tumors themselves.

Almost every area of a person’s body is susceptible to developing breast cancer. Oncologists say that typically the most common area or region of the body to which breast cancer will spread is the bone. The next two most common regions are the liver and the lungs. Though these areas of the body are not considered to be a common risk for developing the disease, breast cancer may infect the bone marrow, brain, ovaries, spinal cord, and the eye.

The cancer has already travelled to other organs or regions of the body in and estimated 10 percent of breast cancer diagnoses. A primary diagnosis of metastatic or advanced breast cancer is likely to indicate a fast spreading of the disease. It might also indicate that although the cancer was present in the body, it was not found in the breast.

Oncologists say that there is a significant possibility for advanced breast cancer to come about due to a return of breast cancer after the patient’s initial treatment. Metastatic or advanced breast cancer treatment comes usually in the form of providing relief of the symptoms and, hopefully, extending the patient’s life.

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