Do we know what causes breast cancer?

Many accident factors can access your adventitious of developing breast cancer, but it is not yet accepted absolutely how some of these accident factors could could cause beef to become cancerous. Hormones assume to play a role in abounding cases of breast cancer, but just how this happens is not absolutely understood.
Normal breast beef become annihilative because of changes (mutations) in DNA. Some DNA mutations are inherited. This agency the mutations are in every corpuscle in your physique and can badly access the accident for developing assertive cancers. They are amenable for abounding of the cancers that run in some families.
But a lot of DNA changes accompanying to breast blight are acquired in breast beef during a woman's activity rather than accepting been inherited.
DNA is the actinic in anniversary of our beef that makes up our genes. Genes accept instructions for how our beef function. We usually attending like our parents because they are the antecedent of our DNA. But DNA affects added than how we look. Some genes ascendancy if our beef grow, bisect into new cells, and die.
Oncogenes
Genes that acceleration up corpuscle analysis are alleged oncogenes. Proto-oncogenes are genes that frequently advice beef grow. If a proto-oncogene mutates (changes) or there are too abounding copies of it, it becomes a "bad" gene that can become assuredly angry on or activated if it is not declared to be. If this happens, the corpuscle grows out of control, which can advance to cancer. This bad gene is alleged an oncogene.
Think of a corpuscle as a car. For the car to plan properly, there charge to be means to ascendancy how fast it goes. A proto-oncogene frequently functions in a way that is abundant like a gas pedal. It helps the corpuscle abound and divide. An oncogene could be compared with a gas pedal that is ashore down, which causes the corpuscle to bisect out of control.
Tumor abolishment genes
Tumor suppressor genes are accustomed genes that apathetic down corpuscle division, adjustment DNA mistakes, or acquaint beef if to die (a action accepted as apoptosis or programmed corpuscle death). If bump suppressor genes don't plan properly, beef can abound out of control, which can advance to cancer.
A bump suppressor gene is like the anchor pedal on a car. It frequently keeps the corpuscle from adding too quickly, just as a anchor keeps a car from traveling too fast. If something goes amiss with the gene, such as a mutation, corpuscle analysis can get out of control.
Certain changes (mutations) in DNA that “turn on” oncogenes or “turn off” bump suppressor genes can could could cause accustomed breast beef to become cancerous.
Inherited gene changes
Certain affiliated DNA mutations can badly access the accident for developing assertive cancers and are amenable for abounding of the cancers that run in some families. For example, the BRCA genes (BRCA1 and BRCA2) are bump suppressor genes. A change in one of these genes can be affiliated from a parent. If one of these genes changes, it no best suppresses aberrant growth, and blight is added acceptable to develop.
Women accept already amorphous to account from advances in compassionate the abiogenetic base of breast cancer. Abiogenetic testing can analyze some women who accept affiliated mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 bump suppressor genes (or beneath frequently in added genes such as PTEN or TP53). These women can again yield accomplish to abate their accident of developing breast cancers and to adviser changes in their breasts anxiously to acquisition blight at an earlier, added treatable stage. (See “For women who are or may be at added risk” in “Can breast blight be prevented?”)
Mutations in bump suppressor genes like the BRCA genes are advised “high-penetrance” because they generally advance to cancer. Although abounding women with high-penetrance mutations advance cancer, a lot of cases of blight (including breast cancer) are not acquired by this affectionate of mutation.
More often, low-penetrance mutations or gene variations are a agency in blight development. Anniversary of these may accept a baby alone aftereffect on blight development, but the all-embracing aftereffect on the citizenry can be ample because they are common, and humans generally are afflicted with added than one at the aforementioned time. The genes complex may affect things like hormone levels, metabolism or added things that collaborate with accident factors for breast cancer. These genes may be amenable for abundant of the accident of breast blight that runs in families.
Acquired gene changes
Most DNA mutations accompanying to breast blight action in breast beef during a woman's activity rather than accepting been inherited. These acquired mutations of oncogenes and/or bump suppressor genes may aftereffect from added factors, like radiation or cancer-causing chemicals. But so far, the causes of a lot of acquired mutations that could advance to breast blight are still unknown. A lot of breast cancers accept several acquired gene mutations.
Tests to atom acquired gene changes may advice doctors added accurately adumbrate the angle (prognosis) for some women with breast cancer. For example, tests can analyze women whose breast blight beef accept too abounding copies of the HER2 oncogene. These cancers tend to be added aggressive. At the aforementioned time, drugs accept been developed that accurately ambition these cancers and advance outcomes for patients.

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