Breast

Looks like

A dome of fat and glandular lobes on the chest wall, draining to the nipple, with a tail towards the armpit.

What it does

Makes milk after birth; a hormone-sensitive organ all through life.

Keeping it well

Know how yours normally feel. Screening from 50: per 1 000 women screened for 20 years, about 4 breast-cancer deaths avoided and about 13 treated for a cancer that would never have surfaced (UK independent review, 2012). A new lump, skin dimpling or nipple change is what needs looking at.

Its parts

• Mammary gland
• Lactiferous ducts
• Nipple & areola
• Axillary tail
• Suspensory (Cooper's) ligaments

Related conditions

• Benign breast lumps (fibroadenoma, cysts)
• Breast cancer
• Gynaecomastia
• Hereditary cancer syndromes (BRCA, Lynch)
• High prolactin (hyperprolactinaemia)
• Male breast cancer
• Mastitis & breast abscess
• Premenstrual syndrome and PMDD