If you’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer, you may be wondering why it happened. Breast cancer isn’t something you can “catch” from someone else. It develops when normal processes that keep your breast cells happy and healthy malfunction.
All the cells in your body have a system of checks and balances that keep them healthy. They tell the cell when they need to grow, move, divide and even when to die. If this delicate system of checks and balances is upset, creating a system malfunction, it can lead to cancer. This can happen to any of your cells.
There are two main cell functions that can kick-start breast cancer:
- Too much cell division.
- Living things grow when a single cell divides into two cells. For a cell to make the decision to divide, conditions must be perfect. In fact, there are three checkpoints that a cell must pass through before it can successfully divide. If any of these checkpoints has malfunctioned, a cell can divide before it’s ready, which increases the chance that it’s unhealthy. Skipping checkpoints also speeds up the process. When cells divide rapidly and uncontrollably, it leads to cancer.
- Not enough cell death.
- A normal healthy cell can recognize when it’s unwell. When this happens, it undergoes a process called apoptosis, or controlled cell death. Apoptosis is crucial to ensuring that unhealthy cells don’t accumulate, because this increases the likelihood of uncontrolled cell growth. Most cancer cells have found a way to avoid apoptosis.
Rest assured, there was nothing you did to cause these processes to malfunction. Unfortunately, breast cancer is not currently preventable and malfunctions in these processes often happen spontaneously due to mutations in your cell’s DNA. However, there are some known risk factors for developing breast cancer, and there are lifestyle habits you can incorporate to reduce your risk.
If you’re facing a breast cancer diagnosis and not sure where to begin, you’ve come to the right place. Our Know More series will continue to help educate you and arm you with the tools you’ll need to feel empowered to advocate for yourself through your experience.
Read More:
Downloadable resource: What is Breast Cancer?
Healthy Lifestyle for People Who’ve Had Breast Cancer
Hear More:
Watch Breast Cancer Breakthroughs to learn about the latest breast cancer advancements for patients.
Read and listen to our Spotlight on Clinical Trials Series.
More Actions You Can Take:
Contact Komen’s Patient Care Center for support.
Join ShareForCures. ShareForCures is Komen’s Breast Cancer Research Registry that will be answering some of the most pressing questions in breast cancer. Anyone diagnosed with breast cancer over age 18 in the United States is eligible to participate.
