There are a number of different types of breast cancer. The most common form of breast cancer is ductal carcinoma, which begins in the cells of the ducts. Cancer that begins in the lobes or lobules is called lobular carcinoma and is more often found in both breasts than are other types of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is an uncommon type of breast cancer in which the breast is warm, red, and swollen.
Hereditary breast cancer makes up from 5 percent to 10 percent of all breast cancer diagnoses. Women who have certain gene mutations, such as a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation, have an increased risk of developing breast cancer and are also at increased risk of ovarian cancer. Other risk factors include estrogen (made in the body), dense breast tissue, age at menstruation and first birth, taking hormones for symptoms of menopause, obesity, and not getting enough exercise.
Each year more than 246,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer and some 40,000 die of the disease, according to federal data. From 2006 to 2012, the five-year survival rate for those diagnosed with breast cancer was 89.7 percent.
Men can also develop breast cancer, making up slightly less than 1 percent of those diagnosed each year. Radiation exposure, high levels of estrogen, and a family history of breast cancer can increase a man’s risk of the disease.
Source: National Cancer Institute