Roughly 13% of women (or one in eight women) will, unfortunately, develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetime. It is estimated that in 2023 alone, 297,790 women will be diagnosed with some form of breast cancer in the United States — making it the most common type of cancer among American women.
These statistics may be unnerving, but as an individual at risk for the disease, it’s important to gain a better understanding of it. In this article, we’ll walk you through what breast cancer entails, including the signs and symptoms to look out for and the courses of treatment typically involved.
Read on to learn more.
Breast Cancer Explained
Just like other cancers, breast cancer occurs when mutations happen in the genes responsible for regulating cell growth. These mutations allow the cells to divide and then multiply in a way that’s virtually uncontrollable.
In the breasts, cancer can potentially form in the breast cells — usually the lobules or ducts. The lobules are the glands responsible for producing milk while the ducts act as the milk’s pathway to the nipple. However, cancer can also form in the fatty tissue of the breast or the fibrous connective tissue.
As the cancer cells grow, they tend to take over and invade any healthy tissue nearby. This is what allows them to travel to the lymph nodes located under the arms. Once the cancer reaches the lymph nodes, it’ll have access to the rest of the body where it will spread if not treated.
The Signs and Symptoms of Breast Cancer
In its earliest stages, the signs and symptoms of breast cancer can easily go unnoticed. In many cases involving tumors at the early stages, the tumor may actually be too small to be felt by hand. Fortunately, they can still be seen on mammograms.
It should be noted, however, that if a lump is felt, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have cancer. There are plenty of benign (non-cancerous) lumps that can occur on the breasts, such as:
- Cysts
- Fibroadenomas
- Fat necrosis
- Sclerosing adenosis
Therefore, it’s important to understand the symptoms associated with breast cancer aside from lumps. This would include:
- Thickening of the skin tissue around the breast that doesn’t match the rest of the skin
- Red, discolored, pitted skin
- Noticeable breast or nipple pain
- Swelling in all or part of the breast
- Nipple discharge that’s not breast milk
- Bloody discharge from the nipple
- Flaking, peeling, or scaling of nipple skin or skin on the breast
- A sudden and unexplained change in the shape or size of the breast
- Inverted nipples
- A lump or swelling under the arm (or arms) or near the collarbone
- Any other abnormal changes to the appearance of the skin on your breast
The Types of Breast Cancer
There are also a few different types of breast cancer that you may not be aware of. The various types of breast cancer are broken down into two primary categories:
- Invasive
- Noninvasive
Breast cancer is considered invasive when it has spread from the ducts to the glands or other parts of the breast. If the cancer remains isolated, it’s considered noninvasive.
Doctors will categorize the different types of breasts cancer as either invasive or noninvasive, and they include:
- Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS): DCIS is a noninvasive cancer where the cancer cells are simply confined to the breast ducts and have not invaded the surrounding tissue or the rest of the breast.
- Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS): LCIS grows in the breast’s milk-producing glands and is also usually considered noninvasive as it’s usually isolated at the time of discovery.
- Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC): IDC is the most common type of breast cancer. It grows in the milk ducts and invades the surrounding breast tissue, which can lead to the spread to other tissues in the body.
- Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC): ILC develops in the lobules and spreads to nearby tissues, making it another invasive form of breast cancer.
- Paget disease of the nipple: This breast cancer develops in the ducts, and as it grows it affects the nipple skin and areola.
- Phyllodes tumor: This is a very rare type of breast tumor that grows in the connective tissue of the breast. Some are malignant, but fortunately, most are benign.
- Angiosarcoma: This cancer grows in the blood vessels or lymph vessels in the breast. It’s considered rare but also dangerous.
How Is Breast Cancer Treated?
Upon diagnosis, doctors will first determine the stage of the breast cancer. These stages range from 0 to 4, determined by the size of the tumor and how far the cancer has spread.
The stage of breast cancer will also determine the course of treatment the doctor will recommend. Surgery is the most common treatment, and it’s often combined with additional treatments — including chemotherapy and radiation.
Here’s what you can expect from breast cancer treatment:
- Surgery: Depending on the size of the tumor and how many lymph nodes are affected, the doctor may want to perform a lumpectomy, mastectomy, sentinel node biopsy, axillary lymph node dissection, or contralateral prophylactic mastectomy.
- Radiation therapy: Radiation therapy consists of high-powered beams of radiation used to precisely target and kill the remaining cancer cells.
- Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy is an intravenous drug treatment that destroys cancer cells by essentially killing off as many cells as possible to prevent them from multiplying. Chemotherapy is often recommended before surgery to help kill the cancer and shrink the tumor so the surgeon can perform a less-invasive surgery.
- Hormone therapy: Certain types of breast cancer are sensitive to hormones. In this case, the doctor may want to include hormone therapy to help block the cancer cells’ hormone receptors to potentially stop the growth of the cancer.
The most important thing to remember when it comes to breast cancer is that early detection and preventative measures, such as a healthy diet and exercise, are the key to survival. Breast cancer doesn’t have to be a death sentence, so be sure to take good care of yourself and keep an eye out for the early warning signs.