Breast Evaluation and Treatment Program

Breast Cancer

What Is Breast Cancer? | Risk Factors | Symptoms and Diagnosis | Stages and Treatment Options | About the Treatments | Treatment Side Effects | About Clinical Trials | Inflammatory Breast Cancer | Breast Reconstruction | Breast Cancer in Men

What is Breast Cancer?

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Kate Tkaczuk, M.D.

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e-mailing Dr. Kate Tkaczuk.

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Susan B. Kesmodel, M.D.

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e-mailing Dr. Susan Kesmodel.

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Note: This is for informational purposes only. Doctors cannot provide a diagnosis via e-mail.

Breast cancer is a disease in which cancerous (malignant) cells are found in the tissues of the breast.

Each breast has 15 to 20 sections called lobes, which have many smaller sections called lobules.

The lobes and lobules of the breast are connected by thin tubes called ducts.

The most common type of breast cancer, called ductal cancer, occurs in the cells of the ducts. Cancer that begins in the lobes or lobules is called lobular cancer.

Lobular cancer is more often found in both breasts than other types of breast cancer.

A third type of breast cancer, inflammatory breast cancer, is less common than the other two types.


This page was last updated on: March 3, 2008.