Roche Product Information





				The breast is primarily made up of glands called lobules, which also includes the ducts (tubes) that connect the lobules to the nipple. When a woman is breast feeding her baby, the lobules produce milk. Lobules grouped together into larger units are called lobes. On average, there are 15-20 lobes in each breast. The remainder of the breast is made up of fat (which determines size and shape of the breast) and lymphatic tissue. Cancer can develop when cells in the body grow out of control, rapidly divide and then invade nearby tissue or spread throughout the body. A collection of these out-of-control cells is referred to as a tumour. In breast cancer, the disease usually begins in lobules or ducts and can then break through the duct or gland walls to invade the surrounding fatty tissue of the breast and eventually invade other areas of a woman's body. The likely outcome of the disease (prognosis) and treatment of breast cancer is influenced by the stage of the disease (how far the cancer has spread) when first diagnosed. Breast cancer is broadly categorised into four stages: Stage 1: The cancer is confined to a woman's breast only (early stage breast cancer) Stage 2: The cancer has spread to nearby structures - i.e. lymph nodes, the ones under a woman's arms (locally advanced breast cancer) Stage 3: The cancer has spread to the underlying tissues of the chest wall (locally advanced breast cancer) Stage 4: The cancer has spread to other parts of a woman's body (metastatic or advanced breast cancer)