Breast cancer

Breast cancer

The breast is made up of glands called lobules that can make milk and thin tubes called ducts that carry the milk from the lobules to the nipple. Breast tissue also contains fat and connective tissue, lymph nodes, and blood vessels.

Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer in females worldwide. Breast cancer usually starts off in the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply them with milk. A malignant tumor can spread to other parts of the body. A breast cancer that started off in the lobules is known as lobular carcinoma, while one that developed from the ducts is called ductal carcinoma.

Types

There are several different types of breast cancer, which can develop in different parts of the breast. Breast cancer is often divided into non-invasive and invasive types.

·         Non-invasive breast cancer

Non-invasive breast cancer is also known as cancer or carcinoma in situ. This cancer is found in the ducts of the breast and hasn't developed the ability to spread outside the breast.

·         Invasive breast cancer

Invasive cancer has the ability to spread outside the breast, although this doesn't necessarily mean it has spread. The most common form of breast cancer is invasive ductal breast cancer, which develops in the cells that line the breast ducts. Invasive ductal breast cancer accounts for about 80% of all breast cancer cases and is sometimes called "no special type".

·         Other types of breast cancer

Other less common types of breast cancer include invasive lobular breast cancer, which develops in the cells that line the milk-producing lobules, inflammatory breast cancer and Paget's disease of the breast.

Symptoms

Often, an abnormal area turns up on a screening mammogram (X-ray of the breast), which leads to further testing. In some cases, however, the first sign of breast cancer is a new lump or mass in the breast that you or your doctor can feel. A lump that is painless, hard, and has uneven edges is more likely to be cancer. But sometimes cancers can be tender, soft, and rounded. So it's important to have anything unusual checked by your doctor.

According to the American Cancer Society, any of the following unusual changes in the breast can be a symptom of breast cancer:

·         swelling of all or part of the breast

·         skin irritation or dimpling

·         breast pain

·         nipple pain or the nipple turning inward

·         redness, scaliness, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin

·         a nipple discharge other than breast milk

·         a lump in the underarm area