Interesting Facts About Breasts

About 75% of lymph from the breast travels to the ipsilateral axillary lymph nodes. The rest travels to parasternal nodes, to the other breast, or abdominal lymph nodes. The axillary nodes include the pectoral, subscapular, and humeral groups of lymph nodes. These drain to the central axillary lymph nodes, then to the apical axillary lymph nodes. The lymphatic drainage of the breasts is particularly relevant to oncology, since breast cancer is a common cancer and cancer cells can break away from a tumour and spread to other parts of the body through the lymph system by metastasis.
Shape and support
Breasts vary in size, density, shape, sag and position on a woman's chest, and their external appearance is not predictive of their internal anatomy or lactation potential. The natural shape of a woman's breasts is primarily dependent on the support provided by the Cooper's ligaments and the underlying chest on which they rest (the base). Cooper's ligaments, also known as the suspensory ligaments of Cooper, suspend the breasts from the clavicle and the clavi-pectoral fascia. As their fibers run around and through the breast, these ligaments support the breasts in its position on the chest wall and maintain their normal shape. The breast is also attached at its base to the chest wall by the deep fascia over the pectoral muscles. In a small number of women, the frontal ducts (ampullae) in the breasts are not flush with the surrounding breast tissue, which causes the sinus area to visibly bulge outward.