BREAST CANCER – MAJOR TYPES AND MORE

OVERVIEW

Breast cancer as the name itself suggests, is a type of cancer that develops and begins in the breast. In this a tumor develops in the breast.

This tumor usually grows when the cells in the breast area start growing and replicating abnormally. This abnormal growth of the cells leads to the activation of the oncogenes which further converts the normal tumor, a non – cancerous one (benign) into a cancerous (malignant) one.

It can occur at any age and period of life but it the risk of having it usually increases with age and weight gain.

There are various treatments that are available for breast cancer and breast cancer is the most least deadly type of cancer that is present and it can also be cured easily.

 

TYPES OF 

The type of breast cancer that a person has depends on the location the person is having it. There are basically two main types of cancer and they have various subtypes

Invasive breast cancer

Invasive  cancer are basically types of cancer that begin or develop in the breast milk ducts and then spread to other locations in the body

Non – invasive or in situ breast cancer

Non – invasive  cancer are types of cancer that develop in the breast milk ducts and then remain there itself and do not spread to other parts of the body

Invasive and non – invasive are two broad categories of breast cancer. They have several subtypes

Some substypes of invasive cancer are listed below :

Invasive ductal carcinoma

• Invasive ductal carcinoma are the most common invasive types of  cancer
• These types of  cancer begin in the ducts that carry milk to the nipple and then spread to other parts of the breast
• Over a period of time it may also spread to some other parts of the body as well

Invasive lobular carcinoma

• Invasive lobular carcinoma is the second most common type of invasive  cancer that is present in individuals
• This type of cancer begins in the area where milk is made in the breast, that is known as lobules, and then spread to other parts of the breast and may even sometimes spread to other parts of the body as well over a period of time
• It usually begins only in one breast but then also develops in the other breast
• These kind of breast cancer are usually difficult to detect

Inflammatory breast cancer

• Inflammatory  cancer is a type of cancer that usually tends to spread faster than other types of cancer
• It can occur both in the ducts, lobules or in any other part of the breast
• This type of cancer usually is not diagnosed in the early stages as it is difficult to diagnose it, however it is diagnosed easily in the later advanced stages
• This type of cancer usually has a lower survival rate

Paget’s disease of breast cancer

• This type of cancer is also known as Paget’s disease of the nipple.
• This is the must uncommon type of  cancer that occurs
• This type of cancer creates unique type of tumor cells that are known as Paget cells and they occur in the skin around the nipple and the areola

Phyllodes tumors

• These types of tumor are very rare and they are usually found in the connective tissue of the breast
• Phyllodes tumor can affect women of any age but they are most common in females who are above the age of 40
• Phyllodes tumor are not always cancerous, sometimes (about 25 percent) of them are cancerous

Angiosarcoma of the breast

• This is a very rare type of invasive  cancer
• It occurs in the lining of lymph or blood vessels that are present in or around the breast
• Though it is a rare type of cancer, but it is common in individuals above the age of 70
• This type of cancer spreads very quickly
• It is usually difficult to diagnose this type of cancer until it spreads to other parts of the body

Below listed are some subtypes of non – invasive  cancer

Ductal carcinoma in situ

• As the name itself suggests, the ductal carcinoma is a type of breast cancer that develops in the milk ducts
• Milk ducts are the ducts that carry milk from the lobules to the nipple
• As it is an in situ type of cancer, it does not spread further and remains limited to the ductal area only

Lobular carcinoma in situ

• Lobular carcinoma occurs in the lobules of the breast
• Lobules are the structures in breast where the milk is made
• Technically they cannot be considered as cancer, but a change in breast
• Over a period of time they can get converted into invasive type of  cancer

 

SYMPTOMS 

The symptoms of this develop over a period of time. Sometimes the symptoms are so minor that can go unnoticed, one might have to pay attention while observing them.

Below listed are some common symptoms  :

• Nipple discharge (sometimes may be blood) other than milk
• Pain in the nipple area
• Pulling in of the nipple
• Change in shape and size of breast
• Pain in the breast area
• Redness in the nipple area or breast
• Flaky skin in the nipple area or breast
• Lump in the underarm (armpit) or breast
• Swelling of a part or the whole breast
• Irritation on the nipple or breast skin
• Change in skin of the breast or over it
• Peeling or scaling of the pigmented area of the breast that is present around the nipple

CAUSES 

The  cancer occurs due to abnormal growth of the cells that are present in the breast. Over a period of time (when the oncogenes activates themselves) they are converted into cancerous (malignant) tumors from non-cancerous (benign) ones.

There are various risk factors  that lead to the development of breast cancer , some of them are listed below :

• A personal history of breast cancer
• A personal history of breast conditions
• A family history of breast cancer
• Some inherited genes that might increase the risk of breast cancer
• Exposure to radiation
• Obesity
• Onset of menstrual cycle at an early age
• Onset of menopause at an older age
• Giving birth at an older age
• Having never been pregnant
• Alcohol abuse
• Smoking
• Post – menopausal hormone therapy