Breast cancer is one of the forms of cancer that affect women and can be dangerous. It is important to carry out self-exams and get tested to detect this disease early. The article provides information on this form of cancer by explaining the symptoms and types of breast cancer.
- Symptoms
The symptoms and types of breast cancer are usually inter-related. A particular type of breast cancer may cause specific symptoms and may help the doctor in evaluating the disease. Some of the common types of breast cancer are the following:- Lump in the breast or armpit.
- Swelling in the breast.
- Discharge from the nipple (not milk).
- Pain anywhere in the breast.
- Alteration in the shape or size of the nipples or the breast.
- Redness in the nipples.
- Dimpling of skin on the breasts.
- Two types of breast cancer
There are two main types of breast cancer – invasive and non-invasive. Invasive breast cancer is where cancer has spread from the breast to other parts of the body. Non-invasive or in-situ breast cancer is where cancer is restricted to the breasts. - In-situ breast cancer
In-situ or non-invasive breast cancer is where cancer is localized to the breast region. There are two types of in-situ breast cancer.- Ductal carcinoma in-situ
In this type of cancer, the cancerous tissue is located within the milk ducts of the breast. This is an early stage of cancer that is sometimes even referred to as pre-cancer. Treatment at this stage is easy. - Lobular carcinoma in-situ
In this type of cancer, the cells in the lobules become cancerous. These cancer cells remain within the lobules. It is actually not a type of breast cancer but is precancerous.
- Ductal carcinoma in-situ
- Invasive breast cancer
Invasive breast cancer is dangerous as cancer cells spread from the breast to other places. It can affect the lymph nodes and spread to other organs of the body. This is an advanced stage of cancer that makes treatment difficult when cancer cells start spreading. There are two main types of invasive breast cancer.- Invasive ductal carcinoma
80% of invasive breast cancers belong to this type. Here, cancer starts in the milk cells and spreads throughout the breast. From there, it can affect the lymph system and move on to other parts of the body. The earlier this type of cancer is detected, the better are the prospects of treatment. Interestingly, more than two-thirds of women having this form of cancer are more than 55 years old. - Invasive lobular carcinoma
Cancer begins in the the lobules of the breast or the milk glands. From there, it spread to the rest of the breast and other organs. The thickness of the breasts is one of the first signs of this type of cancer.
- Invasive ductal carcinoma
The article on the symptoms and types of breast cancer would have provided you valuable information about this disease. These symptoms must be reported to a doctor so that the disease can be diagnosed early and treated.