Genetic Mutations (Breast Cancer)

Breast Cancer is an genetic mutation. Breast cancer is a disease in which certain cells in the breast become abnormal and multiply without control or order to form a tumor. The most common form of breast cancer begins in cells lining the ducts that carry milk to the nipple (ductal cancer). Other forms of breast cancer begin in the glands that produce milk (lobular cancer) or in other parts of the breast.
Early breast cancer usually does not cause pain and may exhibit no noticeable symptoms. As the cancer progresses, signs and symptoms can include a lump or thickening in or near the breast; a change in the size or shape of the breast; nipple discharge, tenderness, or retraction (turning inward); and skin irritation, dimpling, or scaliness. These changes can occur as part of many different conditions, however. Having one or more of these symptoms does not mean that a person definitely has breast cancer.
In some cases, cancerous tumors can invade surrounding tissue and spread to other parts of the body. If breast cancer spreads, cancerous cells most often appear in the bones, liver, lungs, or brain. Tumors that begin at one site and then spread to other areas of the body are called metastatic cancers.
A small percentage of all breast cancers cluster in families. Hereditary cancers are those associated with inherited gene mutations. Hereditary breast cancers tend to occur earlier in life than noninherited (sporadic) cases and are more likely to involve both breasts

A gene mutation is a permanent change in the DNA sequence that makes up a gene. Mutations range in size from a single DNA building block (DNA base) to a large segment of a chromosome.
Gene mutations occur in two ways: they can be inherited from a parent or acquired during a person’s lifetime. Mutations that are passed from parent to child are called hereditary mutations or germline mutations (because they are present in the egg and sperm cells, which are also called germ cells). This type of mutation is present throughout a person’s life in virtually every cell in the body.