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Source: Virtual Medical Centre
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The female breast contains lobes, which are made up of smaller sacs called lobules, in which milk is produced. Thin tubes called ducts carry the milk from the lobules to the nipple when a woman is breastfeeding. The breast also contains vessels that carry clear fluid, or lymph, to small, round organs called lymph nodes.
Most breast cancers begin in the ducts or lobules. Inflammatory breast cancer, on the other hand, begins in the lymph vessels, causing noticeable changes to the breast.
When breast cancer spreads, it travels through the lymph nodes to other organs — usually the bones, liver, lungs and brain.
