[Breast cancer metaphors and meanings from the perspective of five families].

This article analyzes metaphors and meanings related to breast cancer among families affected by the disease. The first section briefly contextualizes the social construction of meanings related to cancer in the 20th century, with the Brazilian context as the main reference. The next section discusses meanings ascribed to breast cancer in five families that included women who had received a diagnosis of breast cancer and who were (or had been) under in-hospital treatment. The families were part of a qualitative study on patients in a specialized cancer hospital in the State of Bahia. The data analysis showed differences among the concepts associated with cancer and breast cancer, inter-generational sharing of ontological interpretations, reinterpretation of medical discourse based on psychosomatic factors, and notion of cure associated with clinical discharge.