What exactly is breast cancer?

So what IS breast cancer? Well we know it's scary and just about anyone can get it. Even you guys aren't safe from this nasty. But why does it happen and how?

Luckily for you, the Boobie Wednesday girls are here to answer your questions. :)

Well, umm, thanks to the good people at www.breastcancer.org anyway.

Marisa Weiss, M.D. says,

“Just think about the many things that might cause the wear and tear that leads to abnormal cell growth—pollutants, hormones, pesticides, smoking, alcohol use, obesity, stress…. Or maybe your cells just made a mistake one day when they were making new genes to pass on to their baby cells. Perhaps there was a misprint in the genetic instruction manual that said switch growth on instead of growth off. This is a test. ”

To give you the brief rundown:

• Breast cancer is an uncontrolled growth of breast cells.
• The term "breast cancer" refers to a malignant tumor that has developed from cells in the breast.

Here is a very unsexy boobie pic that explains the anatomy of the breast a little further.

Breast profile:

A Ducts
B Lobules
C Dilated section of duct to hold milk
D Nipple
E Fat
F Pectoralis major muscle
G Chest wall/rib cage

Enlargement
A Normal duct cells
B Basement membrane
C Lumen (center of duct)

Cancer in any part of the body is caused by "mutations, or abnormal changes, in the genes responsible for regulating the growth of cells and keeping them healthy". But in the breasts the cancer usually either "begins in the cells of the lobules, which are the milk-producing glands, or the ducts, the passages that drain milk from the lobules to the nipple".

You can get a description of the stages of breast cancer here.

"While there are steps every person can take to help the body stay as healthy as possible (such as eating a balanced diet, not smoking, limiting alcohol, and exercising regularly), breast cancer is never anyone's fault. Feeling guilty, or telling yourself that breast cancer happened because of something you or anyone else did, is not productive."

Basically breast cancer is really scary. Not just because it's life threatening, but it's boobie threatening too. To some that might sound totally superficial, but whether you like it or not, breasts are a symbol of womens sexuality, and who among us would want that stripped away?

So be smart. Stay healthy. Eat well, exercise, and above all do your monthly BSE just like we showed you here.

And when you've done all that, why not donate to help save someone elses boobies too? We recommend NBCF and Komen for the Cure, and of course you can buy something from our very own Boobie Wednesday store where all profits will be donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Cause really, who doesn't like boobies?