- Breast cancer
- Breast Cancer
- What is breast cancer
- Types of breast cancer
- Am I at risk
- Increased risk
- HRT and Breast Cancer Risk
- Reducing risk
- Breast lumps
- What Happens at the clinic
- Emotional Reaction to a Diagnosis
- Treatment Options for Breast Cancer
- Radiotherapy
- Chemotherapy
- Hormonal Therapy
- Breast Reconstruction
- Treatment of Non-invasive Breast Cancer
- Follow-up Clinic
- Gynecomastia
What are the different Types of Breast Cancer?
There are two main types of breast cancer: invasive and non-invasive (Table 1).
Type 1 - Invasive Breast Cancer
This cancer is more aggressive and has the ability to spread elsewhere in the body and thus cause death.
Type 2 - Non-invasive Breast Cancer
This type is confined to the ducts or lobules of the milk glands. It is a non-invasive cancer and does not usually spread to other parts of the body. However, it may develop into an invasive type if left untreated. The medical name for non-invasive breast cancer is ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) if it occurs in the milk gland ducts (tubes), or lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) if it occurs in the gland lobules.
| Details | Breast Cancer Type | |
|---|---|---|
| Invasive | Non-invasive | |
| Behaviour | Aggressive | Not particularly aggressive |
| Spread | Yes | Not usually |
| Outcome | Can cause death | Much better prognosis |
LCIS is not considered as cancer as such. The presence of this abnormality in a breast biopsy means the patient has an increased risk of developing breast cancer. The risk means that about 1 in 3 women with LCIS will develop breast cancer within 30 years of being diagnosed with the original condition.