Cancer of Breast | What is Breast Cancer.
Breast cancer is referred to as malignant breast neoplasm in medical circles. It is the cancer that occurs in the tissue of the breast. Breast cancer can occur in women as well as in men though breast cancer in women is 100 times more common than breast cancer in men.
Breast Cancer in Women.
This can originate from two different tissues in the female breast. It can originate from the lobules in which case it is called lobular carcinoma. It can occur in the ducts that carry milk, in which case it is referred to as ductal carcinoma and which is more common. About 80% of breast cancers are ductal carcinomas.
Image showing lobular and ductal carcinoma.
Breast Cancer in Men.
This is usually is a ductal carcinoma and tends to have a poor prognosis due to late diagnosis. male breast cancer can occur at any age but is most common in old age. cause of male breast cancer is not known. Every human has a certain amount of breast tissue. In men the breast tissue does not get developed. Ductal carcinoma is more common in men.
Types of Breast Cancer.
Breast cancer can often be classified along the following lines.
- Lobular carcinoma in situ.
- Invasive lobular carcinoma.
- Ductal carcinoma in situ.
- Invasive ductal carcinoma.
- Inflammatory breast cancer does not start as a lump but begins with swelling and redness of the breast.
- Paget’s disease of the nipple is a rare breast cancer in which the malignant cells develop in and around the nipple.
Non Invasive Breast Cancer.
Non Invasive Breast cancer is the breast cancer which stays within the tissue in which it has originated. For example, cancer which has originated in the lobules of the breast stays within the lobules and does not grow into the neighboring normal breast tissue beyond the lobules. Similarly cancer which has originated within the ducts stays within the duct and does not invade the neighboring normal tissue. This type of cancer is called carcinoma in situ.
Image showing invasive and noninvasive breast cancer. (Click on image to enlarge).
Invasive Breast Cancer.
Invasive breast cancer is cancer which invades into the neighboring breast tissue beyond the lobules or the milk ducts from which it has originated. This is the more common of the breast cancers.
Mixed Breast Tumor.
A mixed tumor is a tumor which contains malignant lobular cells as well as ductal cells. Such a cancer is treated as a ductal carcinoma.
At times there is more than one tumor in the breast. It can either be multifocal or multicentric.
Multifocal Breast Cancer.
In this cancer, the multiple tumors originate from the original tumor and are present in the same section of the breast.
Multicentric Breast Cancer.
In this type of breast tumor, the different tumors originate separately and are often found in different areas of the breast.
After skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly occurring malignancy among women in the U.S. Breast cancer awareness has increased and so has research funding. Survival rates of breast cancer have improved due to more in depth studies, early detection and newer treatments.
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