Understanding Your Type of Breast Cancer
The ducts and the lobules are the two structures of the breast where cancer is most likely to occur. Your doctor can look under a microscope at the cancer cells that were collected during your biopsy to determine which type of cancer you have. The type of cancer partly determines your choices for treatment. Other rare types of cancers, such as inflammatory breast cancer and Paget’s disease, can begin in the breast as well.
The single most important factor in evaluating any breast cancer is determining whether it is noninvasive (in situ) or invasive (infiltrating). This will help determine your treatment path and, to some extent, your expectations for results. Noninvasive cancers occur only in the ducts or lobules and do not spread to the surrounding areas. They can later develop into a more serious, invasive type of cancer. If you are diagnosed with noninvasive carcinoma, your chances of surviving are very high if you don’t wait to treat it. If you do wait, you run the risk that your cancer will become invasive. Invasive cancer is more difficult to treat.
Invasive cancers have started to spread to surrounding areas. This type of breast cancer is much more serious than noninvasive cancer. It often invades nearby lymph nodes first. It can then spread to other parts of your body through your bloodstream and lymphatic system. Treatment for invasive cancer is usually a more difficult, long-term process. But these cancers often can still be cured.
