Breast cancer is a disease in which cells in the breast grow out of control. There are different kinds of breast cancer. The kind of breast cancer depends on which cells in the breast turn into cancer.
Breast cancer can begin in different parts of the breast. A breast is made up of three main parts: lobules, ducts, and connective tissue. The lobules are the glands that produce milk. The ducts are tubes that carry milk to the nipple. The connective tissue (which consists of fibrous and fatty tissue) surrounds and holds everything together. Most breast cancers begin in the ducts or lobules.
Breast cancer can spread outside the breast through blood vessels and lymph vessels. When breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it is said to have metastasized.
start in the epithelial cells that line organs and tissues throughout the body. When carcinomas form in the breast, they are usually a more specific type called adenocarcinoma, which starts in cells in the ducts (the milk ducts) or the lobules (glands in the breast that make milk).
The type of breast cancer can also refer to whether the cancer has spread or not. In situ breast cancer (ductal carcinoma in situ or DCIS) is a pre-cancer that starts in a milk duct and has not grown into the rest of the breast tissue. The term invasive (or infiltrating) breast cancer is used to describe any type of breast cancer that has spread (invaded) into the surrounding breast tissue.
Invasive (or infiltrating) breast cancer has spread into surrounding breast tissue. The most common types are invasive ductal carcinoma and invasive lobular carcinoma. Invasive ductal carcinoma makes up about 70-80% of all breast cancers
Triple-negative breast cancer is an aggressive type of invasive breast cancer in which the cancer cells don’t have estrogen or progesterone receptors (ER or PR) and also don’t make any or too much of the protein called HER2. (The cells test "negative" on all 3 tests.) It accounts for about 15% of all breast cancers and can be a difficult cancer to treat
Your treatment depends on where your cancer is, how big it is, whether it has spread anywhere else in your body, and your general health. A team of doctors and other professionals decide on the best treatment and care for you. The type of treatment you have for breast cancer will depend on the stage of your cancer. Treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy
Find out about the different types of surgery for breast cancer, how to prepare for your operation, and how to recover well.
Radiotherapy uses high energy x-rays to kill cancer cells. Find out about planning radiotherapy for breast cancer, having treatment, and possible side effects
Hormones can stimulate breast cancer cells to grow. Hormone therapy blocks or lowers the amount of hormones in the body.
Chemotherapy involves using anti-cancer (cytotoxic) medicine to kill cancer cells.
It's usually used after surgery to destroy any cancer cells that have not been removed. This is called adjuvant chemotherapy.
In some cases, you may have chemotherapy before surgery, which is often used to shrink a large tumour. This is called neo-adjuvant chemotherapy.
Several different medicines are used in chemotherapy, and 2 to 3 are often given at once.
The choice of medicine and the combination will depend on the type of breast cancer you have and how far it has spread.
Chemotherapy is usually given as an outpatient treatment, which means you will not have to stay in hospital overnight.
The medicines are usually given through a drip straight into a vein.
In some cases, you may be given tablets that you can take at home. You may have chemotherapy sessions once every 2 to 4 weeks and then have a break. Each treatment session is known as a cycle. You may have up to 8 cycles of chemotherapy.
The main side effects of chemotherapy are caused by its influence on normal, healthy cells, such as immune cells.
You must be logged in to post a comment.