Being diagnosed with breast cancer is devestating news.  However, it is important to listen to all the information given by your doctor during this difficult time because some of the information given about your breast cancer diagnosis is vital to figuring out how you and your physicians will approach your breast cancer treatment.  With breast cancer, there is a "staging system" that helps identify the various factors and personality features of the breast cancer.

Breast Cancer Signs & Symptoms

Breast cancer is a disease in which abnormal cell growth occurs in the tissue of the breast.  It is one of the most feared diseases in women, particularly those women who have family members previously diagnosed with the disease.  Breast cancer has in fact, become one of the leading causes of death in women.  Because this disease is generally much more agressive in younger women, it is crucial that early diagnosis and early treatment occur.  For this reason, it is important to recognize the signs and symptoms of breast cancer to ensure an early diagnosis, especially if you are in a higher risk group.

There are many risk factors associated with an increased risk of developing breast cancer.  Some of these risk factors such as age and race, are beyond a person's control.  However, there are many "lifestyle" risk factors which can be controlled and lower the risks associated with breast cancer.

There is no way of accurately determining if a person will develop breast cancer.  There are certain risk factors that have been associated with breast cancer, but having a risk factor or several does not necessarily mean a person will develop the disease.

Cancer is the general term used to describe over 100 different types of the disease.  With cancer, cells in a part of the body begin to grow out of control.  While there are over 100 variations of cancer, all cancers start when abnormal cells grow out of control.  According to WebMD, the most common types of cancer are breast cancer, skin cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer.