Breast cancers have various types, and knowledge on all of them is necessary for defining what treatment you need. Naturally, different types of breast cancers will have different causes, show different symptoms and will need different treatments than other types of breast cancer.
Breast cancer can either be invasive or non-invasive. Non-invasive breast cancers, also called in situ breast cancers, have a very high survival rate. Cancer cells in non-invasive breast cancers are confined to the site where the cancer originated, and have not spread to other organs. The most common non-invasive breast cancer is Ductal Carcinoma In Situ or DCIS, which develops in the breasts' milk ducts and does not metastasize. The best and easiest treatment for DCIS is mastectomy, and patients are cured fully, most of the times.
Metastasis occurs when the cancer cells do not remain in the site where they initially develop, but spread to other parts of the body and start malignant cell formation there. When this happens, the cancer is called Invasive breast cancer. The two commonest types of invasive breast cancer are Invasive Ductal Carcinoma and Invasive Lobular Carcinoma.
Seventy to eighty percent of all breast cancer cases are those of Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. Formation of cancer cells in the milk ducts of the breasts, which break through the ducts and spread to surrounding breast tissues and other parts of the body, is called Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. When such cells start forming in the milk lobules, and not ducts, and spread out, it is called Invasive Lobular Carcinoma. A distinguishing feature is that a lump is not necessarily formed in ILC, and usually the breast thickens as a whole.
All forms of breast cancer do not originate in ducts or lobes. Breast tissues, fibrous connective tissues, blood vessels and lymph vessels can also be the originating site for breast cancer. It is also possible that the cancer does not start in the breast, but spreads to the breast from cancer cells of another cancer. However uncommon these types are, it's always good to be informed. Inflammatory breast cancer, Paget's disease of the breast, metaplastic breast cancer, angiosarcoma, osteosarcoma and adenoid cystic carcinoma are some uncommon types of breast cancer.
Inflammatory breast cancer is very aggressive, and can originate and start developing cancer cells so rapidly, that within a week, the cancer becomes very advanced and dangerous. This is the reason it is important to know everything about these rare types; you just do not know for sure if they can attack you.
Doctors usually grade invasive breast cancers. They compare the affected breast tissue with a normal tissue, and grade depending on how much the affected tissue resembles a normal one. This process makes it easier to decide the course and procedures for treatment. Grades start from I to III, Grade I implying the cancer is not very advanced, and Grade III suggesting that the breast tissue has lost its normal functioning ability and that the cancer has progressed highly.
As you can see, knowing about all types of cancers can help you recognizing symptoms early on and advise you on how to make your treatment more effective, along with giving you proper knowledge and information on your treatment.
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What you must know about the different breast cancer types. The second step is knowing everything about the right types of treatments for breast cancer
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