Breast Cancer

What is Breast Cancer?

Breast cancer happens when cells in the breast grow out of control. It's the most common cancer among women in the U.S. Finding it early gives you more treatment options and a better outlook. 

One in seven women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime, and the disease accounts for 32 percent of all cancers that occur in women. Yet approximately 80 percent of all breast lumps are NOT breast cancer. Fewer than 1 percent of all breast cancers occur in men, and the majority of women who develop breast cancer have NO significant risk factors. Following recommended screening guidelines and understanding common risk factors are the best ways to protect your health.

CoxHealth brings advanced cancer treatment technology to the Ozarks, with radiation therapy focused on convenience, shorter treatment time, fewer side effects, and preserving more breast tissue than traditional radiation therapy.

Know the Warning Signs

• Breast lump or swelling of the breast
• Any thickening or swelling that persists
• Nipple inversion or retraction

• Breast or nipple pain
• Skin dimpling or puckering
• Any spontaneous discharge from the nipple

Fibrocystic Breast Condition

Fibrocystic Breast Condition may also be called fibrocystic disease, cystic disease, or chronic cystic mastitis. Fibrocystic changes are not cancer. These changes are related to the way the tissue of your breast responds to the estrogen and progesterone hormones in your body. Your milk glands and milk ducts respond to these hormones by becoming larger and retaining fluid. This fluid can become trapped and the pockets that develop are called cysts.

Stereotactic Breast Biopsy

Stereotactic Breast Biopsy is a less invasive method of obtaining the tissue needed to diagnose breast disease. After a local anesthetic is placed in your breast, a small (1/4 inch) incision is made in the skin. Using digital image guidance, several small samples of tissue are removed from your breast with a thin needle. These tissue samples are used by the pathologist to evaluate breast changes.

Ultrasound core biopsy is another minimally invasive method of obtaining the tissue needed to diagnose breast disease. After a local anesthetic is placed in your breast, a small (1/4 inch) incision is made in the skin. Using ultrasound image guidance, several small samples of tissue are removed from the breast with a thin needle. These tissue samples are used by the pathologist to evaluate breast changes.

Can Men Get Breast Cancer?

Yes. Fewer than 1 percent of all breast cancers occur in men, but it can happen.

Risk Factors

Although 75 percent of women who develop breast cancer have no significant risk factors, there are things that may increase your risk.

Risk factors you can't change:

• Getting older (most breast cancers are diagnosed after age 50)
• Being younger at your first period, or starting menopause later — more lifetime hormone exposure
• Having your first child at an older age, or never having children
• Not breastfeeding
• Personal history of breast cancer or certain non-cancerous breast conditions (like atypical hyperplasia)
• Family history of breast or ovarian cancer, especially a mother, sister, or daughter (you are two to three times more likely to develop breast cancer if your mother or sister has had breast cancer)
• Inherited gene changes, most notably BRCA1 or BRCA2
• Dense breast tissue
• Previous radiation therapy to the chest, especially before age 30

Risk factors you can influence:

• Being overweight, particularly after menopause
• Long-term combined hormone replacement therapy (estrogen and progesterone)
• Drinking alcohol
• Not getting regular physical activity

NOTE: Factors that do not seem to increase risk include injury to the breast, sexual stimulation, and breastfeeding.

Treatment Options

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  Radiation Therapy

  Radiation therapy is one way to destroy cancer cells.

  Learn More
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  Chemotherapy

  Chemotherapy is treatment with powerful medicine. Chemotherapy drugs can treat cancers that have spread throughout your body.

  Learn More
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  Surgery

  In some cases, surgery may be a good option for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

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  Brachytherapy

  Brachytherapy uses small implants to attack tumors from inside the body.