Surviving Diagnosis

Exploring the different types of breast cancer

Breast cancer is a universal term to describe several different cancers that form in and around the breasts. Breast cancer types are generally categorized based on where the illness begins, most often in the ducts or lobules, the parts of the female anatomy responsible for producing breast milk.

About 226,870 new cases of invasive breast cancer in American women will be diagnosed in 2012, while more than 22,000 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer over that same time period.
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Breastfeeding with breast cancer

Many mothers subscribe to the belief that breastfeeding is healthy for their children. Medical experts encourage breastfeeding for at least a period of one year so that the infant receives optimal nutrition and the antibodies necessary to start off life on a healthy track.

But what of the mothers who have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer or previously undergone treatment? Although it may be challenging, breastfeeding might still be possible for women in such situations.
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Anatomy of a healthy breast

Many women are unaware of the anatomical makeup of their breasts. That can make it difficult for women diagnosed with breast cancer to fully understand the disease. The above cross-section represents a healthy breast. In many cases, breast cancer involves the small circular parts contained in the mammary glands, called lobules, and the tubes within the breasts, called the ducts.
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What to expect after a mastectomy

A person's life changes when he or she receives a breast cancer diagnosis. There are many questions that need to be answered, and one of them is usually, "What are my options?"

One of the treatment options in the fight against breast cancer is a mastectomy. Though the number of mastectomies performed each year was in decline a mere decade ago, more and more are now being performed thanks in large part to less invasive treatments. A study of more than 5,000 Mayo Clinic cancer patients revealed a 13 percent increase in the number of mastectomies performed between 2003 and 2006.
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