8
Winter 2022
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Breast Cancer in Older Adults Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer found in elderly women. A woman has a 1 in 8 chance of developing breast cancer over her lifetime, according to the National Cancer Institute. The older a woman is, the more likely it is she will be diagnosed with the disease. On average and across all races, there is about a 9% chance that a 60-year-old woman develops senior breast cancer over her next 20 years. Nearly 275,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed every year, with more than 3 million survivors of the disease living at any given time, according to the American Cancer Society. About half of the newly diagnosed breast cancer cases come from women over the age of 60, and another 20% come from women over 70 years old. At age 80, the chances of you developing breast cancer over the rest of your life begin to decrease, according to Harvard Medical School. Unfortunately, women over 65 who are diagnosed with early onset breast cancer are more likely to pass away due to the disease. Women in that same age group are more likely to have the cancer recur, as well. More than 40,000 women die from breast cancer every year. It’s vital that women—and their loved ones—know the warning signs, causes, and different types of breast cancer, as well as how and when to get tested, and how it can be treated and prevented. TYPES OF BREAST CANCER Breast cancer is a blanket term for any form of cancer that develops in and around the breast, such as the lobule, the part of the breast that makes milk, or the milk ducts, which carry the milk around the breast, though there are specific forms of the cancer that affect different parts of the breast. Generally speaking, breast cancer is either: • Invasive: The cancer spreads to healthy tissue. • Non-invasive: The cancer is localized to the milk ducts and cells of the breast. One of the most common forms of breast cancer is invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). This form of breast cancer starts in the milk ducts and moves to other healthy tissue. There is a non-invasive form of this type of cancer that starts in the milk ducts, too, but BreastCancer.org notes that most breast cancers are invasive. Other important forms of senior breast cancer include the following:
INVASIVE LOBULAR CARCINOMA: Similar to IDC, this form of cancer can spread to other parts of the breast, but it starts in the lobules. There is a noninvasive form, too, meaning the cancer stays in the lobule where it started. INFLAMMATORY BREAST CANCER: This is a rare form of breast cancer that makes up about 1% of all cases. It starts with a reddening and inflamed breast and then spreads quickly to surrounding tissue, such as the lymph nodes. Within a few days or a week, it can spread from the breast to other areas. PAGET’S DISEASE: This is a rare form of cancer that affects the nipple. It starts in or just behind the nipple and can spread to other parts of the breast. ANGIOSARCOMA: While this is an overarching term for any form of cancer that affects the blood and lymph vessels in your body, it can occur in the breast, though it’s rare. Any of these cancers can recur, even if treated in the early stages. The cancer may recur in the same spot as before or in a different area if leftover cells survived after the cancer previously spread. There is also a form of breast cancer that occurs in men, but it makes up less than 1% of all related cases. If a man does develop breast cancer, it almost always starts in the undeveloped milk ducts. Women are 126 times more likely to be diagnosed and die due to breast cancer than men. CAUSES OF BREAST CANCER Breast cancer is caused by a mutation of cells in the breast, but it’s not exactly clear what causes that mutation. Whereas with lung cancer, for example, it’s easier to point to an activity like smoking as the root cause, the same does not hold true for breast cancer. However, there are risk factors for senior breast cancer and they include: GENDER: Breast cancer occurs almost exclusively in women. More than 99% of breast cancer cases happen in women.
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