Causes of Breast Cancer

To understand what causes breast cancer, it is beneficial to have a basic, overall understanding of how cancer develops in the human body.

What is Cancer?

Cancer is the abnormal growth of cells within the body. The human body can develop many types of cancer besides breast cancer. These forms can include anything from skin cancer to bone cancer. However, all forms of cancer originate from the rapid growth of abnormal cells within the body. A healthy, normal cell in the human body will grow, divide, and die as a normal process of the body. Cancer cells, on the other hand, multiply rapidly and do not die as quickly as normal cells. Instead, they continue to grow and replicate. Sometimes during advanced stages of cancer, cancerous cells may travel from the original cancer site to other parts of the body. The cancerous cells will then grow and replace the healthy tissue in that part of the body, a process called metastasis.

Causes of Cancer

According to scientists, when a cell’s DNA becomes damaged, that cell may develop into a cancerous cell. All cells contain DNA, which is responsible for our genetic makeup as well as for directing the processes and functions of our bodies’ cells. Normally when a cell’s DNA is damaged, the body is able to repair the cell as best it can. However, the body does not repair cancerous cells, allowing them to replicate and potentially spread. Inherited cancers are caused when people inherit damaged DNA from their close relatives. However, many cancers are caused by other damage to cells’ DNA, such as smoking, which is a leading cause of lung cancer.

The breast is composed of lobules, ducts, fat, and connective tissue. Cancerous growths can form in any one of these areas. Both invasive and non-invasive forms of cancer can develop. A non-invasive form of cancer, for example, would be a malignant growth located in the lobule, or milk-producing duct, of the breast. This growth would be confined to the lobule and would not have spread to the surrounding breast tissue. An invasive form of cancer, however, may begin in the lobule and spread to the surrounding fatty and connective tissue. Some growths may even spread to the surrounding lymph nodes and tissues outside the breast if given time to advance.