Think Pink, Always: October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
More than 185,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women. However, early detection, treatment and increased awareness make it only the sixth leading cause of death among American women.
Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC)
Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) accounts for 70 percent of all breast cancer diagnoses. In this case, the cancer has spread from milk glands to the surrounding breast tissue. IDC cells may have metastasized or invaded the blood stream.
Invasive Lobular Carcinoma (ILC)
Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) is another aggressive form of breast cancer. ILC is more rare than IDC and can spread cancer to distant parts of the body.
Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC)
As many as five percent of breast cancer patients are diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC). IBC cancer cells obstruct lymph nodes of the breast. This is an extremely aggressive form of breast cancer.
Symptoms
IDC produces a tumor in the breast. This tumor may be discovered as a lump through self-examination, or mammogram. ILC does not typically produce lumps. Instead, ILC causes breast tissue to thicken or harden. Dimpling or swelling of the breast is suggestive of IBC.
Staging
Cancerous breast tissue will be evaluated and assigned a staging number between 1 and 3. A stage 1 breast cancer identifies cancerous cells that are slightly abnormal, while stage 3 cells indicate total loss of cellular function.
HER-2
The pathologist will test for high cellular levels of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2). All cells have HER-2 genes and HER-2 receptors. HER-2 genes signal cellular growth, and HER-2 receptors receive and process that signal. Cancerous breast cells occasionally carry an unusually high amount of these genes and receptors. This causes the cancer to become very aggressive.
Tags: breast tissue, aggressive form, aggressive form breast, breast cancer, breast cancer
