Important to know:
Breast cancer types
For detecting type of breast cancer, the oncologists provide the complete diagnostics. A doctor carries out mammogram or ultrasound to make the tumor images. But, images can only confirm or disprove the presence of a tumor. Mammogram does not determine whether the tumor is malignant. The specialists provide a biopsy to determine the nature of cancer .
After the procedure, the specialists study a biopsy material in the laboratory. With the biopsy, a specialist can determine whether cancer is invasive (aggressive).
Invasive breast cancer is a malignant tumor that extends beyond the mammary duct and grows to the healthy tissues.
If cancer does not invade the surrounding tissues, it is called carcinoma in situ.
Carcinoma
There are several types of breast cancer, the most common of which is carcinoma.
Carcinoma is a malignant tumor that is formed from epithelial tissue of the body cavity, the organs and glands membranes of the body.
The most common types of breast cancer are:
Ductal carcinoma
Specialists diagnose ductal carcinoma in 80% of cases.
Ductal carcinoma in situ
Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is the type of breast cancer when malignant cells do not spread beyond the mammary ducts.
If DCIS does not penetrate the breast tissue, so it cannot spread (metastasize). But, it is impossible to say for sure that the ductal tumor will not grow.
Invasive ductal carcinoma
Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) means that malignant cells spread through the mammary ducts into the fatty tissue of the breast. The tumor can spread to other parts of the body with the help of the blood and lymphatic vessels.
8 out of 10 cases of metastatic cancer begin with ductal carcinoma.
Symptoms of ductal breast cancer
In the early stages, the disease can develop asymptomatically. The main signs of the ductal carcinoma are pain and lumps in the mammary gland. There may be the nipples discharge and swelling of the breast.
Lobular carcinoma
Lobular carcinoma affects the lobules of the breast tissue that produces milk. Usually, lobular carcinoma is asymptomatic and maybe not shown on the mammogram.
This type of cancer occurs in 5% of breast cancer cases.
Non-invasive lobular carcinoma
Non-invasive lobular tumor (in situ) is the initial stage of cancer in which malignant cells do not spread to nearby tissues and are found only in the lobule of the mammary gland.
Invasive lobular carcinoma
Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) means that the tumor started from a lesion of the mammary gland lobule and but spreads to the breast tissues and metastasizes.
Symptoms of lobular carcinoma
Using the method of palpation to examine the breast, a person may notice some lump that does not go away after menstruation. Also, a person may find out peeling and wrinkling of the gland, a discoloration of the breast skin. For more accurate diagnosis, a doctor prescribes mammography, ultrasound, CT, and MRI.
The specialists provide blood marker tests and an immunohistochemical test to confirm the hormone sensitivity of the tumor.
Paget’s cancer
Paget's cancer, so-called nipple cancer, is a rare form of breast cancer that can affect both women and men of the older age.
Paget's cancer occurs in 1% of patients with breast cancer.
Oncologists found the chest lumps in every 2nd patient with Paget's cancer. The disease almost always connects with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) or invasive ductal carcinoma. If a doctor does not detect the lump during the palpation, but a biopsy shows cancer in situ, so the chances for patient’s recovery are very high. If an oncologist confirms the invasive type of cancer, the prognosis is less favorable.
Symptoms of Paget’s cancer
There are such symptoms as redness, peeling, skin irritation of the nipple and areola. A patient may also have itching and burning, hypersensitivity, pain and discharge from the nipples. The complexity of Paget’s cancer diagnosis is about having the similar symptoms of eczema (the chronic skin disease).
Inflammatory cancer
Inflammatory breast cancer develops at a younger age than other types of breast cancer and is often found in women with overweight.
Inflammatory breast cancer is an acute type of cancer that develops and metastasizes.
Symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer
Inflammatory breast cancer has the same symptoms as mastitis (non-cancerous inflammation of the breast). The most common symptoms are redness of the mammary gland, roughness, swelling, enlargement. The skin looks like a lemon rind. The chest hurts, and the local temperature rises. If mastitis is treated with antibiotics, inflammatory cancer is progressing.
Mammography cannot detect Inflammatory cancer. An oncologist can only diagnose it with biopsy. Unfortunately, this type of cancer is almost never diagnosed at the early stages. It is often found at 3B stage (cancer spreads to the skin), or at 4 stage (tumor invades the other organs).
For determining the stage of inflammatory cancer, the oncologists apply chest X-ray, CT, MRI and bone scintigraphy.