Know the Types of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is one type of cancer that claimed many lives of Indonesian women. According to the Breast Cancer Infodatin released by the Indonesian Ministry of Health in 2016, the female mortality rate from breast cancer in Indonesia reached 17 cases per 100,000 residents. Now that not many people know, one woman with another may have a different type of cancer. Yes! In fact there are many types of breast cancer in the world.

That's why it's important for every woman to detect their risk as early as possible. By getting an early diagnosis, you will find out more quickly what type of breast cancer you have so that the treatment will be more targeted and effective.

Various types of breast cancer that you need to be aware of

Breast cancer arises when cancer cells grow from abnormal tissue in the lobules (mammary glands), ducts (breast ducts), and connective tissue. If cancer cells remain in their original location, do not break and spread, this type of cancer is called noninvasive or in-situ cancer. But when the cancer cell has spread and attacks the surrounding tissue, the cancer has been called invasive (malignant cancer).

Based on the two characteristics above, the type of breast cancer is further divided into:

In situ breast cancer (not malignant)

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)
Ductal carcinoma in situ is a type of breast cancer that first begins in the ductal tissue. Ductal carcinoma is considered the most common precancerous condition.

Ductal carcinoma in situ is not life-threatening and is very treatable. But if it's too late to get treatment, it can develop into invasive breast cancer.

Lobular carcinoma in situ
Lobular in situ carcinoma is also known as lobular neoplasia. These carcinoma cells do not actually include cancer, but look like cancer cells that grow in the breast lobules (tissue that produces milk).

Invasive breast cancer (malignant cancer)

Invasive ductal carcinoma
Invasive ductal carcinoma is the most common type of breast cancer. Invasive ductal carcinoma covers about 80 percent of cases of invasive breast cancer.

This type of cancer starts from cancer cells in the milk ducts which then malign to break through the walls of the duct and eventually attack other nearby breast tissue. From there, cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body through the lymph system and blood flow.

Invasive lobular carcinoma
Invasive lobular carcinoma is the second most common type of breast cancer after invasive ductal carcinoma. This type of cancer refers to cancer that starts in the breast lobule (milk production network) and then attacks other breast tissue nearby.

Invasive types of lobular carcinoma are more common in women aged 55 years and over. In addition, 1 in 5 women who experience this type of cancer in both breasts. Cancer of invasive lobular carcinoma can also spread to other organs.

Invasive lobular carcinoma is usually more difficult to detect through physical examination or imaging such as mammography compared to invasive ductal carcinoma.

Inflammatory breast cancer

Inflammatory breast cancer causes the breasts to swell and redden. This type of breast cancer occurs due to cancer cells blocking the lymph vessels in the skin.

Inflammatory breast cancer tends to grow and spread rapidly. In addition, the symptoms can also worsen in a matter of days or even hours.

Besides swelling and redness, you will also experience thickening of the skin which causes the breasts to look thicker and rough.

Paget's disease (breast nipple cancer)

Paget's disease is a rare type of breast cancer that specifically attacks the nipples and areola (the brown area around the nipple).

Symptoms of Paget's disease can be very similar to an eczema rash because it causes the skin around the nipple to become very dry. In addition, the nipple can also bleed or yellow fluid complete with itching or burning.

Paget's cancer usually affects only one nipple and tends to be associated with ductal carcinoma in situ.

Phyllodes tumor

Phyllodes is a rare breast tumor that develops in the connective tissue of the breast. Most of these tumors are benign, but 1 in 4 cases can be malignant. This condition generally affects women in their 40s.

Breast Angiosarcoma

This type of cancer is very rare. The numbers are only less than 1 percent of all breast cancer cases. Angiosarcoma appears first in cells lining blood vessels or lymph vessels in the breast, and attacks the tissue or skin of the breast.

Breast cancer angiosarcoma usually occurs due to radiation exposure to the breast.

Some types of breast cancer can be triggered by excessive levels of estrogen and / or progesterone in the body. So besides looking at the potential aspects of its spread, the types of breast cancer can also be grouped into 3 main subtypes based on three genetic markers (estrogen, progesterone, and protein receptors) that appear during biopsy examinations. This genetic marker is called HER2. B

Breast cancer positive receptor hormone (luminal)

Jennifer Specht, MD, an oncologist from Seattle Cancer Care Alliance in the United States states that the increase in the hormone estrogen can trigger the growth of breast cancer cells. If the results of biopsy tests report that you have a positive excess estrogen, then the type of cancer you have is strongly suspected is breast cancer hormone receptor positive (luminal) and most likely will be treated with hormone therapy.

HER2-positive breast cancer

HER2-positive breast cancer is a type of cancer that has too many copies of a protein called human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2).

HER-2 breast cancer is among the most common among most women. This type of cancer can include cancer positive or negative hormone receptors.

Triple negative breast cancer

Triple negative breast cancer is the cause of about 17% of total breast cancer cases. This type of breast cancer is the most aggressive because of the negatives of estrogen, progesterone, and also HER-2.

Usually this type of cancer is more common in premenopausal women and women with the BRCA1 gene mutation (cancer-carrying gene).

By knowing cancer hormone receptors and HER2 status, the doctor can decide to determine the right treatment for the type of cancer you have.

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