Breast cancer is a kind of cancer where cells in your breast can grow out of control. It normally occurs when changes, referred to as mutations, happen in genes to regulate the growth of cells. These mutations make cells divide and increase in an uncontrolled manner.

It can either happen in the ducts or lobules of your breast. Ducts refer to pathways that bring milk from the breast glands to your nipple, whereas lobules refer to glands producing milk.

Cancer may also happen in fibrous connective tissue or fatty tissue in your breast. Uncontrolled growth of cancerous cells usually invade other healthy breast tissues and might travel to lymph nodes.

Through breast cancer screening, which may involve a series of tests, you will be able to detect breast cancer, allowing you to treat it early before it worsens.

Types

Breast cancer types can be determined by how cell samples look under the microscope. Breast cancer types are also categorized based on how sensitive they are to progesterone and estrogen, their genetic makeup, and the level of certain proteins.

With the help of this classification, doctors are able to predict the way breast cancer may respond to certain treatments. Basically, breast cancer can either be invasive or non-invasive.

Invasive

In this category, it means breast cancer has spread outside the lobules or ducts of your breast into the surrounding breast tissues.

Under this category, there are a few subtypes of invasive breast cancer, including invasive lobular carcinoma and invasive ductal carcinoma.

ILC (invasive lobular carcinoma means that the breast cancer, which starts in the milk-producing lobules of your breast has broken through the lobule lining and spread into the surrounding breast tissues. This subtype may spread to your lymph nodes and other body parts with time.

On the other hand, IDC (invasive ductal carcinoma) is among the common subtypes of breast cancer. Nearly 84% of every breast cancer is IDC. If you are diagnosed with IDC, it means the cancerous cells have broken through the milk duct lining and spread to other surrounding tissues. Similar to invasive lobular carcinoma, experts at Hong Kong Cancer Fund say that IDC may also spread to lymph nodes and other parts of your body.

While IDC and ILC are the most common types of invasive breast cancer, there are other subtypes patients can be diagnosed with, including:

• Cribriform carcinoma
• Papillary carcinoma
• Tubular carcinoma
• Mucinous carcinoma

Non-Invasive

When cancer of the breast is referred to as non-invasive, it means the disease hasn’t spread to breast tissues where it began. Some cancer specialists refer to non-invasive to as pre-cancers.

According to breast cancer specialists, non-invasive can be LCIS (lobular carcinoma in situ) and DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ).

LCIS

If a doctor diagnoses you with this subtype of non-invasive breast cancer, it means the disease hasn’t spread outside the lobules of your breast where it began. LCIS remains a benign disease and is basically not true breast cancer regardless of its name.

DCIS

When it comes to this cancer, abnormal cells are usually contained in milk ducts and haven’t spread to nearby tissues in your breast.

While DCIS is a type of non-invasive, without the right treatment, abnormal cells can progress to invasive with time.

Less Common Types

There are a few other forms of breast cancer, which might start growing in other kinds of cells in your breast.

Mostly, these forms of cancers are less common, and at times, they might require different kinds of treatment. These may include:

• Phyllodes tumor
• Angiosarcoma
• Paget disease of the breast

Treatment Options for Breast Cancers

Determining the best treatment can be challenging. After thorough Hong Kong breast cancer screening, ensure you speak to a cancer specialist about possible treatment options suitable for different stages and types of breast cancers.

Your preferred cancer specialist will be able to explain the benefits and risks of every treatment option. This may also include their side effects. Some of the possible treatment options for your cancer may include:

1. Surgery

Surgery involves removing the tumor and several surrounding healthy tissues. The procedure can also be used to examine nearby axillary lymph nodes under your arm.

Normally, surgical oncologists are doctors specializing in treating cancer through surgeries. According to many surgical oncologists, the smaller the tumors, the more surgical options will be available for patients, including:

• Mastectomy
• Lumpectomy

2. Hormone Therapy

This involves using drugs to prevent hormones, particularly estrogen, from facilitating the growth of cells in the breast. These drugs include tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors, such as letrozole, exemestane, and anastrozole.

This kind of therapy usually works by stopping ovaries from producing hormones through medication or surgery. Fulvestrant, for instance, is an injection preventing estrogen from getting attached to cancerous cells.

3. Radiation Therapy

Cancer specialists say that radiation therapy uses a high-powered beam of energy, like protons and X-rays, so as to cancerous cells.

It is usually carried out using a big machine, aiming the beam at your body. The therapy can also be done by putting radioactive material inside a patient’s body through brachytherapy.

After the therapy, you might experience some side effects. These may include fatigue and a sunburn-like rash.

4. Chemotherapy

Similar to hormone therapy, chemotherapy involves using anti-cancer medicine so as to get rid of cancerous cells. Normally, it is used after surgery to destroy all the cancer cells that haven’t been removed. Cancer experts say that this is termed as adjuvant chemotherapy.

In some situations, you might have chemotherapy before the surgery, which is used to shrink big tumors. This is referred to as neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Different kinds of medicines can be used in the procedure, and basically, two or three are offered at once. While chemotherapy is one of the best procedures offered to patients diagnosed with breast cancer, it may have several side effects, like:

• Tiredness
• Sore mouth
• Hair loss
• Being sick
• Infections
• Appetite loss

Final Touches!

If you get diagnosed with breast cancer, your doctor may review the pathology report and results of imaging tests so as to understand more about the specifics of the tumor you have.

Through tissue samples from biopsy, your healthcare team will be able to determine the type of breast cancer you are diagnosed with. With this, your doctor can recommend the right treatment suitable for your needs.