Breast Cancer Types

As women, our breasts are the epitome of our femininity. They are the symbol of all that is woman and that which nurtures life. Breasts define the time when we walk into woman hood and see the change in our girlish bodies; they are the sustenance for our children and a universal object of sex appeal. Big breasts, little breasts, round breasts, flat breasts....it does not matter - our breasts are a part of all we are, not only to ourselves...but to men and society in general.

No other body part has ever had the attention paid to it as the breast. Odes have been written to the beauty of a breast, paintings have replicated, magazines have devoted timeless attention to, and man has revered, until the importance of the breast has risen to such fervor that now Doctors even create them. It is not surprising then that to every woman and girl - our breasts are subconsciously and consciously the very essence of our gender. Just as a man values his genitalia and cannot imagine a life without, we also value our breasts.

Because of this, Breast Cancer is a real fear for every woman. Breast Cancer awareness is so predominant that even young girls start worrying about it. Every lump, each little bump sends a signal of fear to our brains. And even though Breast Cancer can also endanger men (approximately 1% of cases), it is a disease which seems to specifically target and victimize women.

The best way to deal with fear is through knowledge. What we do with the knowledge is our own individual choice just as are the choices we make when confronted or diagnosed with this disease. The first step in understanding Breast Cancer is to know while we tend to simply say "Breast Cancer" - there are actually many different types of Breast Cancer - each with their own unique symptoms and treatment regimens.

The most common types of Breast Cancer develop either in the milk ducts, call Ductal Carcinoma or in the glands which produce milk, called lobular carcinoma. Between 85% and 90% of all Breast Cancer's are Ductal.

Ductal Carcinoma starts in the cells which line the ducts beneath the breasts nipple. In Situ Breast Cancer means a cancer which is noninvasive. The most common type is DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma in Situ). With DCIS, the cancer cells have not spread outside the walls of the duct and have not invaded surrounding tissue. With proper treatment the prognosis for those with DCIS is excellent. Treatment options for DCIS include Lumpectomy, Lumpectomy combined with radiation, Lumpectomy with the drug Tamoxifen, or simple mastectomy. Simple mastectomy is less common for treating DCIS than it was in years past, as the other treatment options have proven to be equally effective. There are cases where your Doctor will advise mastectomy depending on tissue samples, area of DCIS, inability to utilize radiation treatment, or your individual wishes.

Infiltrating Ductal Carcinoma, IDC, is an invasive Cancer. According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, it accounts for 78% of all malignancies. The cancer cells break through the breast's duct wall and invade nearby tissue, where it may stay "localized" in the basic area, or has a potential to spread to the body through the blood stream or the lymphatic system. There are two types of lesions that show in mammograms with IDC, star shaped or stellate ones and rounded, well defined lesions. The stellate lesions have a worse prognosis than the rounded.

Medullary Carcinoma is a subtype of IDC. Medullary is more common in women in their 40's and 50's, yet uncommon enough to be only about 5% of diagnosed breast cancers. It appears on a mammogram as grey matter similar to brain matter which is where it gets it name from, the medulla. Medullary is a fast growing cancer yet does not often spread to lymph nodes and because of this after treatment the one year survival rate is 92%.

Inflammatory Breast Cancer or IBC is an advanced and very aggressive form of cancer and unfortunately is often mistaken for other breast conditions as unlike other forms does not show itself through a lump but through breast pain and skin changes. Most cases can be discovered through mammogram or ultrasound but not all. IBC can spread to the lymph nodes under the arm, above the collar bone and on the same side as the breast with the inflammation. IBC can affect women of any age from puberty to menopause. Treatment for IBC is much more aggressive consisting of chemotherapy, radiation, sometimes surgery to remove breasts and lymph nodes, and hormone therapy to prevent the return of the cancer. It is usually treated first with chemotherapy because unlike other breast cancers is normally not discovered until it is in a more advanced stage. IBC has a high risk for recurrence but because of better methods to diagnose and treat it, patients can become long term survivors.

Metaplastic Breast Cancer, another form of IBC,is an extremely rare form of cancer and is one of the hardest to treat. Because it is rare, little is known about how it forms or the long term survival possibilities. The tumors of this cancer contain cells within them that are not normally present in the breast, such as skin and bone cells. Modern medicine has not formed a definitive method for treating Metaplastic Breast Cancer because it is so rare and will condition the treatment for each woman depending on the location and size of tumor, the patient's health, and where the cancer has spread.

Another rare type of breast Cancer is Paget 's disease, a cancer of the nipple or breast that affects both men and women. It usually appears in the nipple area and signifies there is breast cancer beneath the skin. The most common treatment for Paget 's disease is surgery. Radiation, chemotherapy and hormone therapy are also used. Tubular Carcinoma is another rare form of breast cancer that accounts for only 2% of cancer diagnosis. It gets its name from its tubular shape. Sometimes, Tubular cells are mixed with ductal or lobular cells and the patient will get a mixed tumor diagnosis.

Papillary Carcinoma is a type of DCIS, ductal carcinoma in situ. This cancer is seldom invasive and normally always stays within the milk ducts. Paipillary is very rare, only 1% and diagnosed mostly in older women and even men. It should not be confused with a non-cancerous condition called Intraductal papilloma. Treatment for Papillary Carcinoma normally begins with lumpectomy (depending on size of tumor and hormone levels of patient), mastectomy, radiation and tamoxifen.

Lobular Carcinoma accounts for approximately 8% of diagnosed Breast Cancer. The lobes of the breast are the glands that produce milk and are much deeper inside the breast, located under the ducts. Just as with Ductal Carcinoma if Lobular Carcinoma is In Situ, LCIS, the cancer is confined within the lobe and has not spread to surrounding tissue. The tumor may be removed by lumpectomy if the margin of cancer allows and often your Doctor will want you to follow up with radiation. If the Lobular Carcinoma has become invasive cancer and spread into the surrounding breast tissue, then treatment options will change and you may be recommended to have a mastectomy followed by chemotherapy.

Invasive Lobular Carcinoma, ILC, is when Lobular Carcinoma leaves the milk producing glands and invades the breast tissues close to the lobe. ILC is only one out of ten invasive cancer diagnosis. If breasts are very dense and the lobe is located closer to the wall of the chest it is sometimes difficult to see ILC on a mammogram. If you feel a thick area in your breast, have skin changes or nipple withdrawing, get a check up with your doctor. Treatment for ILC ranges from a lumpectomy, radiation, chemotherapy, mastectomy, and hormone therapy.

Invasive Cancer is the second most common group of Breast Cancer. Invasive or infiltrating cancers are any cancers which have the potential to spread not only through the breast but to other areas of the body. In addition to the ones listed above there are less common invasive cancers that occur in less than 5 percent of all the cancer cases. Adenoid cystic carcinoma which is seldom invasive and has a high rate of patient survival, Mucinous carcinoma, a cancer that produces mucus and also has a good prognosis, Sarcoma's of the Breast, a cancer that forms in the breast's connective tissues, Angiosarcoma which is a very rare cancer that starts in the cells that line the blood vessels and can actually occur because of radiation treatments, and a Phyllodes Tumor, which are normally harmless but if they are cancerous, they will be removed by surgery as chemotherapy or radiation are not viable treatments.

Breast Cancer is not prejudiced, and does not choose it's victims from any certain gender, race, or age group. But it is a diagnosis any human dreads to hear. Yet, with our advances in medicine and the available ways to not only diagnose but also to treat, the survival rate has increased. Someday, we could hope that mastectomy will not be a necessity or even an option. Education on preventative measures to keep your breasts healthy has progressed and should be taught to every girl from puberty on.

If you have concerns about your breast health, and you believe in going to a doctor, then do have a check up. There are many conditions that affect the breast which are not cancer. My mother, like many women, suffered as a young woman from chronic cystic mastitis, also known now as fibrocystic disease of the breast . While not a cancerous condition it is associated with an increase in the risk of breast cancer. During a time period when relatively little was known about the diseases and cancers of the breast, her Doctor wanted to give her a double mastectomy. My mother of course refused and chose to treat herself by changing her diet and with the use of vitamins. After one month of taking Vitamin E, all swelling, pain, and fever left her breasts and she became convinced that we could prevent disease with proper nutrition. She has spent her life eating healthy, taking her vitamins and has lived a breast healthy life for over 50 years since refusing surgery. She is to me an example of how changing what we feed our bodies can have an impact on our future health.

Prevention is always the first "treatment" we should utilize. According to the Mayo Clinic, Breast Cancer prevention "starts with your own health habits - such as staying physically active, limiting alcohol and eating right". We may not be able to avoid risks out of our control such as age or genetic makeup, but we can do all in our power to lower our risks of getting breast cancer.

Sources:
Mayo Clinic
Medicine.net
Breast Cancer
National Breast Cancer Society