#Anatomy of the Female Breast The #breast is made up of lobes and #ducts. Each breast has 15 to 20 sections called lobes, which are arranged in a circularfashion. The fat (subcutaneous adipose tissue) that covers the lobes gives the breast its size and shape. Each lobe has many smaller sections called lobules. Lobules end in dozens of tiny bulbs that can make milk. The #lobes, lobules, and bulbs are linked by thin tubes called ducts. They are supported by and attached to the front of the chest wall on either side of the breastbone or sternum by ligaments. They rest on the major chest muscle, the #pectoralis major. The breast is responsive to a complex interplay of hormones that cause the tissue to develop, enlarge and produce #milk. The three major hormones affecting the breast are estrogen, progesterone and prolactin, which cause glandular tissue in the breast and the uterus to change during the menstrual cycle and peripartum period. The breast itself has no muscle tissue. A layer of fat surrounds the mammary glands. Mammary glands are located in the breast and produce milk for a baby after childbirth. Each gland contains lobules (or lobes) that produce the milk. Ductal carcinoma refers to cancer that starts in the mild ducts (mammary glands), while lobular carcinoma originates in the lobes (#lobules).
