What is breast cancer? What are its main types?

Weather of Arabia - Breast cancer is an abnormal and uncontrolled growth in breast cells and tissues, and it is the most common type of cancer among women, but breast cancer may also affect men.

Breast cancer usually develops in either the lobules or ducts of the breast. The lobules of the breast are the glands responsible for secreting milk. Breast ducts are the pathways that carry milk from the glands to the nipple. Breast cancer can also affect the fatty tissue or fibrous connective tissue within the breast.

The main types of breast cancer

There are many types of breast cancer, and breast cancer types are divided into two main groups as follows:

Invasive breast cancer : It is characterized by the spread of cancer cells to other parts of the breast than the one from which it began, as well as its spread to other parts of the body.

Non-invasive breast cancer : It is characterized by cancer cells remaining in a specific place in the breast and not spreading to any other parts of the body.

The previous two categories of breast cancer describe many types of breast cancer, which are classified based on the shape of the cancer cells when examined under a microscope, and based on the type of tissue in which the breast cancer began.

ductal carcinoma in situ

Ductal carcinoma in situ develops in the milk ducts of the breast, and the cancer cells in this type do not invade any of the surrounding breast tissue.

invasive ductal carcinoma

Invasive ductal carcinoma is the most common type of breast cancer. This type of breast cancer begins in the milk ducts and then invades other tissues in the breast. It can also spread to other parts of the body.

Invasive ductal carcinomas have a number of subtypes that include:

• Tubular breast cancer
• medullary breast cancer
• Mucinous or mucinous breast cancer, also known as colloid carcinoma.
• papillary breast cancer
• perforated breast cancer

lobular carcinoma in situ

LCIS affects the glands at the end of the milk ducts in the breast, and is a non-invasive type.

Invasive lobular carcinoma

Invasive lobular carcinoma is the second most common type of breast cancer. This type of breast cancer first affects the breast lobules, then spreads to other breast tissues, and can spread to other parts of the body.

molecular breast cancer

Molecular breast cancer includes five types that are classified based on the genes that the cancer expresses. These types include:

• Luminal A . Breast Cancer
• Luminal B breast cancer
• Triple negative breast cancer
• HER2 .-positive breast cancer
• Breast cancer like normal

Rare types of breast cancer

There are rare types of breast cancer, and these types include:

inflammatory breast cancer

Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare type, accounting for about 1% to 5% of cases of breast cancer.

Paget's disease of the breast

Paget disease of the nipple is a rare type of breast cancer, in which cancer cells collect in or around the nipple, affecting the skin of the nipple and areola.

phyllodes tumor

A phyllodes grow in the connective tissue of the breast. Most of these tumors are benign, but some are cancerous.

angiosarcoma

Hemangiosarcoma grows in the blood vessels or lymph vessels of the breast.

Triple negative breast cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer is rare, affecting about 10-20 percent of people with breast cancer.

metastatic breast cancer

Metastatic Breast Cancer, also known as stage IV breast cancer, is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, such as the liver, bones, and lungs.

Breast cancer in men

Men have breast tissue just like women, but the development of breast cancer in men is rare. However, breast cancer in men is no less dangerous than breast cancer in women.

Breast cancer in children

Children of both sexes may develop breast cancer, but most breast tumors in children are benign fibroadenomas, but in some rare cases they may develop into large cancerous tumors.

Breast cancer stages

The stage of breast cancer is determined by certain characteristics of the disease, such as the size of the tumor, whether it has hormone receptors, and whether cancer cells have spread to surrounding tissues or nearby organs.

Breast cancer stages are divided into five main stages; From stage 0 to stage 4, the primary breast cancer stages include:

stage 0 breast cancer

Stage 0 breast cancer is also known as ductal carcinoma in situ, in which cancer cells have spread only to the milk ducts of the breast, but not to nearby tissues.

The first stage of breast cancer

This stage can be divided into two parts as follows:

Stage I A : In this stage, the primary tumor is about 2 cm wide or less, without affecting the lymph nodes.

Stage I B : Cancer cells at this stage are found in the lymph nodes near the breast, without a tumor in the breast itself, or with a tumor in the breast less than 2 cm in size.

stage 2 breast cancer

This stage can be divided into two parts as follows:

Stage II A: In this stage, the tumor is less than 2 cm in size, and has spread to 1-3 adjacent lymph nodes, or the tumor is between 2-5 cm in size, without spreading to any of the neighboring lymph nodes.

Stage IIB: The size of the tumor in this stage ranges between 2-5 cm, with its spread to 1-3 of the adjacent lymph nodes (located in the armpit area), or the size of the tumor is larger than 5 cm, without moving to any of the nodes adjacent lymph.

stage III breast cancer

This stage can be divided into 3 sections as follows:

Stage IIIA: In this stage, the tumor is larger than 5 cm, with the tumor spreading to 1-3 of the adjacent lymph nodes or any of the nodes of the breastbone, or the tumor has spread to 4-9 of the nearby lymph nodes (underarm area) Or the cause of an enlargement of the lymph nodes in the breast, with the tumor being of any size.

Stage IIIB: The tumor in this type has spread to the chest wall or skin, and it may or may not spread to up to 9 lymph nodes.

Stage IIIC : Cancer cells in this type have spread to 10 or more lymph nodes in the axilla, lymph nodes near the collarbone, or the internal lymph nodes of the breast.

stage 4 breast cancer

Tumors at this stage can be any size, with cancer cells spreading to nearby and distant lymph nodes, as well as to other parts of the body.

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