Breast Cancer

Oct. 3, 2025 | An estimated 316,950 new cases of invasive breast cancer and about 59,080 of ductal carcinoma will be diagnosed in the United States this year, according to the American Cancer Society. The most recent statistics show that there are more than four million women currently living with breast cancer in this country. If you are a woman who recently discovered a lump in one of your breasts, you shouldn’t immediately panic. While a lump can be a sign of breast cancer, most are usually benign, meaning they’re not cancerous. However, any breast lump or change needs to be checked by a health care professional to find out if it is benign or malignant and if it might affect your future cancer risk. However, do not wait for a lump to be attentive to your breast health. It is important to screen every year with mammography for breast cancer. Cancers that are found by screening before a lump is detected have better outcomes.

Oct. 3, 2025 | Breast cancer is the second most common form of cancer in women after skin cancer, and it is the second leading cause of cancer death in women after lung cancer. Breast cancer rates in women increased gradually for many years until the early 2000s and then decreased rapidly, coinciding with a drop in postmenopausal hormone therapy use. Increasing age is one risk factor for developing breast cancer. The chance of getting breast cancer increases as a woman gets older. While increasing age impacts a woman’s overall breast cancer risk, breast cancer in younger women is on the rise. Many of these cancers in younger women are hormone positive. Intensive research is ongoing to further understand the causes for these increases. Estrogen is a hormone made by the body. It helps the body develop and maintain female sex characteristics. Unfortunately, being exposed to estrogen over a long time may increase the risk of breast cancer.

Oct. 3, 2025 | There are several different types of breast cancer. They are based on the area of the breast in which the cancer develops. Ductal carcinoma, the most common form, begins in the cells of the ducts, small canals that come out from the lobules and carry the milk to the nipple. Lobular cancers make up approximately 15 per cent of breast cancers and arise from lobules, which are the glands that make breast milk. Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare and aggressive type of breast cancer in which cancer cells block lymph vessels in the skin, causing the breast to look red and inflamed. Paget’s disease starts in the breast ducts and spreads to the skin of the nipple and then to the areola. Breast angiosarcoma starts in the cells that line blood vessels or lymph vessels. Phyllodes tumors may be benign or cancerous and are most common in women in their 40s and develop in the connective tissue, or stroma, of the breast.

Oct. 3, 2025 | If you are a woman who has been diagnosed with breast cancer, it’s important to weigh your options about the best course of treatment for you. The UAMS Breast Center at the Rockefeller Cancer Institute has a strong interdisciplinary team that meets every week and develops a personalized treatment plan for each new patient diagnosed with breast cancer. This team, depending on the type of breast cancer and how advanced it is, will make recommendations on the type of surgery needed, if chemotherapy is needed, or if radiation is needed. They also discuss whether hormonal therapy is needed. Some types of breast cancer are affected by hormones, like estrogen and progesterone. The breast cancer cells have receptors that attach to estrogen and progesterone, which helps them grow. Treatments that stop these hormones from attaching to these receptors are called hormone or endocrine therapy.

Oct. 3, 2025 | Many women are relieved to be finished with breast cancer treatment, but also worry about the cancer coming back and can feel lost when they don’t see their cancer care team as often as they have in the past. But for some women with advanced breast cancer, the cancer may never go away completely. These women may continue to get treatments to help keep the breast cancer under control and to help relieve symptoms from it. Even if you have completed breast cancer treatment, your doctors still will want to watch you closely, so it’s very important for you to go to all of your follow-up appointments. At some point after your treatment, you might find yourself seeing a new doctor who doesn’t know about your medical history. It’s important to keep your health insurance up to date and keep copies of your medical records so you can give your new doctor the details of your diagnosis and treatment.