Carcinoma of the breast is second only to lung cancer in causing cancer-related deaths among women in the United States. This cancer metastasizes readily through the lymph nodes and blood to other sites such as the lung, liver, bones, and ovaries. Treatment is usually some form of mastectomy (removal of the breast). In a radical mastectomy, underlying muscle and axillary lymph nodes (in the armpit) also are removed; in a modified radical mastectomy, the breast and lymph nodes are removed, but muscles are left in place. Sometimes just the tumor itself is removed surgically in a segmental mastectomy or "lumpectomy." Radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and sometimes hormone therapy are also used.

Mammography is a method of diagnosing breast cancer by x-ray examination After the age of 45, women should be examined using this method yearly. Other diagnostic methods include palpation and cytologic study of tissue removed by aspiration or excision. Regular breast self-examination (BSE) is of utmost importance because most breast cancers are discovered by women themselves.

责任编辑：admin