Breast cancer occurs when breast cells develop mutations and begin to divide and multiply. People may first notice a lump in the breast, discoloration, texture changes, or other symptoms
What is breast cancer?
Genes that control cell growth can undergo modifications known as mutations, which can result in cancer. The alterations allow the cells to proliferate and divide uncontrollably.
A cancer that starts in the breast cells is called breast cancer. Most often, the cancer starts in the breast’s ducts or lobules.
The glands that create milk are called lobules, and the passageways that carry the milk from the glands to the nipple are called ducts. Additionally, the fatty or fibrous connective tissue in your breast may develop cancer.
Unchecked cancer cells can spread to the lymph nodes under the arms and frequently infiltrate healthy breast tissue. The cancer has a route to spread to other areas of the body once it penetrates the lymph nodes.
Signs and symptoms of breast cancer
In its early stages, breast cancer may not cause any symptoms. In many cases, a tumor may be too small to be felt, but an abnormality can still be seen on a mammogram.
If a tumor can be felt, the first sign is usually a new lump in the breast that was not there before. However, not all lumps are cancer.
Each type of breast cancer can cause a variety of symptoms. Many of these symptoms are similar, but some can be different. Symptoms of the most common breast cancers include:
- A breast lump or tissue thickening that feels different from surrounding tissue and is new
- Breast pain
- Red or discolored, pitted skin on the breast
- Swelling in all or part of your breast
- A nipple discharge other than breast milk
- Bloody discharge from your nipple
- Peeling, scaling, or flaking of skin on your nipple or breast
- A sudden, unexplained change in the shape or size of your breast
- Inverted nipple
- Changes to the appearance of the skin on your breasts
- A lump or swelling under your arm
If you have any of these symptoms, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have breast cancer. For instance, pain in your breasts or a breast lump can be caused by a benign cyst.
Still, if you find a lump in your breast or have other symptoms, contact your doctor for further examination and testing.
Types of breast cancer
There are several types of breast cancer, and they’re broken into two main categories: invasive and noninvasive. Noninvasive breast cancer is also known as breast cancer in situ.
While invasive cancer has spread from the breast ducts or glands to other parts of the breast, noninvasive cancer has not spread from the original tissue.
These two categories are used to describe the most common types of breast cancer, which include:
- Ductal carcinoma in situ. Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a noninvasive condition. With DCIS, the cancer cells are confined to the ducts in your breast and haven’t invaded the surrounding breast tissue.
- Lobular carcinoma in situ. Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) is cancer that grows in the milk-producing glands of your breast. Like DCIS, the cancer cells haven’t invaded the surrounding tissue.
- Invasive ductal carcinoma. Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) is the most common type of breast cancer. This type of breast cancer begins in your breast’s milk ducts and then invades nearby tissue in the breast. Once the breast cancer has spread to the tissue outside your milk ducts, it can begin to spread to other nearby organs and tissue.
- Invasive lobular carcinoma. Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) first develops in your breast’s lobules and has invaded nearby tissue.
Other, less common types of breast cancer include:
- Paget disease of the nipple. This type of breast cancer begins in the ducts of the nipple, but as it grows, it begins to affect the skin and areola of the nipple.
- Phyllodes tumor. This very rare type of breast cancer grows in the connective tissue of the breast. Most of these tumors are benign, but some are cancerous.
- Angiosarcoma. This is cancer that grows on the blood vessels or lymph vessels in the breast.
The type of cancer you have helps guide your treatment options and long-term outcome.
Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a rare but aggressive type of breast cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), IBC makes up only 1 to 5 percent of all breast cancer cases.
With this condition, cells block the lymph nodes near the breasts, so the lymph vessels in the breast can’t properly drain. Instead of creating a tumor, IBC causes your breast to swell, look red, and feel very warm. Your breast may appear pitted and thick, like an orange peel.
IBC can be very aggressive and can progress quickly. For this reason, it’s important to contact your doctor right away if you notice any symptoms.
Triple-negative breast cancer
Triple-negative breast cancer is another rare disease type. It affects only about 10 to 15 percent of people with breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).
To be diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, a tumor must have all three of the following characteristics:
- It lacks estrogen receptors. These are receptors on the cells that bind, or attach, to the hormone estrogen. If a tumor has estrogen receptors, estrogen can stimulate the cancer to grow.
- It lacks progesterone receptors. These receptors are cells that bind to the hormone progesterone. If a tumor has progesterone receptors, progesterone can stimulate the cancer to grow.
- It doesn’t have additional human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) proteins on its surface. HER2 is a protein that fuels breast cancer growth.
If a tumor meets these three criteria, it’s labeled triple-negative breast cancer. This type of breast cancer tends to grow and spread more quickly than other types of breast cancer.
Triple-negative breast cancers are difficult to treat because hormonal therapy for breast cancer is not effective.
