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SMOKING CAN CAUSE BREAST CANCER
Being around people who are
smoking, even as little as one hour a day, can almost triple a
woman's risk of contracting breast cancer, the second leading
cause of deaths among all American women, and the leading
cause of death among middle-aged women.This is the finding of
a new study Dr. Alfredo Morabia recently published in the
American Journal of Epidemiology.
Morabia headed a team of
researchers from the University Hospital in Geneva,
Switzerland, that analyzed the smoking habits and exposure of
nearly 1300 women. Among their findings:
Just
smoking fewer than 10 cigarettes a day was enough to double a
woman's risk of breast cancer.Smoking 10 to 19 cigarettes a
day saw the risk jump almost five fold. Women who were exposed
to cigarette smoke for one hour per day for 12 consecutive
months nearly tripled their risk of contracting this deadly
disease. More women die of breast cancer than from any other
cancer. It is now the second leading cause of death in
American women.
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Types of
Breast Cancer
There are several types of breast cancer. The most
common is ductal carcinoma, which begins
in the lining of the milk ducts of the
breast. Another type, lobular carcinoma,
begins in the lobules where breast milk
is produced. If a malignant tumor invades nearby tissue,
it is known as infiltrating or invasive
cancer.
How Cancer
Spreads
A malignant tumor can invade surrounding tissue and
destroy it. Cancer cells can also break away from a
malignant tumor and enter the bloodstream or the lymphatic
system. This is how cancer spreads within the
body. When breast cancer spreads outside the breast,
cancer cells often are found in the lymph nodes
under the arm. Cancer cells may spread beyond the breast
such as to other
lymph nodes, the bones, liver, or lungs. (Although it is
not common, some patients whose underarm lymph nodes are
clear of breast cancer may still have cancer cells which
have spread to other parts of the body.)
Cancer that spreads to other parts of the body is the
same disease and has the same name as the original cancer.
When breast cancer spreads, it is called metastatic breast
cancer even though it is found in another part of the
body. For example, breast cancer that has spread to the
bones is called metastatic breast cancer,
not bone cancer.
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