Tests To Determine The Need For Chemotherapy
If the cancer is early-stage and has certain characteristics, you may be eligible for a genomic test, which looks at specific genes in the cancer to predict how likely the cancer is to recur . If a cancer is not very likely to come back, you might not need chemotherapy. If the cancer is more likely to come back, you and your doctor might decide that chemotherapy is right for you. Oncotype DX, MammaPrint, and the Prosigna Breast Cancer Prognostic Gene Signature Assay are some examples of genomic tests. Learn more about breast cancer tests.
Oncogene Expression May Negatively Affect Breast Cancer Outcome
A relatively new addition to the discussion of breast cancer survival statistics and prognosis is oncogene expression.
An oncogene is a tiny fragment of genetic material which is carried in a chromosome and can cause normal cells to become malignant.
The oncogene HER-2, in particular, has been linked to more aggressive breast cancers.
Around one-third of all breast tumours produce the HER-2 oncogene, and these patients tend to have higher rates of recurrence and lower overall breast cancer survival rates.
According to a 2013 Canadian scientific study, the overall 5-year survival rate of HER-2 positive breast cancer is 88.6%. Furthermore, the relapse-free survival rate for 5 years is 79.4%.
Less Commonly Occurring Breast Cancer
Medullary carcinoma: Medullary carcinoma is an invasive breast cancer that forms a distinct boundary between tumor tissue and normal tissue. Only 5% of breast cancers are medullary carcinoma.
Mutinous carcinoma: Also called colloid carcinoma, mutinous carcinoma is a rare breast cancer formed by the mucus-producing cancer cells. Women with mutinous carcinoma generally have a better prognosis than women with more common types of invasive carcinoma.
Tubular carcinoma: Tubular carcinomas are a special type of infiltrating breast carcinoma. Women with tubular carcinoma generally have a better prognosis than women with more common types of invasive carcinoma. Tubular carcinomas account for around 2% of breast cancer diagnoses.
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Causes Of Invasive Ductal Carcinoma
Unfortunately, doctors have yet to figure out the exact cause of invasive ductal carcinoma. When you get this type of cancer, it means something damaged your cells DNA and caused it to change. The result is that the cells grow abnormally and uncontrollably in your breast tissue.
Doctors are still looking for genetic and environmental factors that damage the DNA. They have determined that caffeine, deodorant, microwaves and cell phone use do not lead to this type of cancer.
Treatment Of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ
Ductal carcinoma in situ means the cells that line the milk ducts of the breast have become cancer, but they have not spread into surrounding breast tissue.
DCIS is considered non-invasive or pre-invasive breast cancer. DCIS cant spread outside the breast, but it still needs to be treated because it can sometimes go on to become invasive breast cancer .
In most cases, a woman with DCIS can choose between breast-conserving surgery and simple mastectomy. But sometimes a mastectomy might be a better option.
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What Does It Mean If My Report On Ductal Carcinoma In Situ Mentions Estrogen Receptor Or Progesterone Receptor
ER and PR are special tests that the pathologist does that are important in predicting response of the DCIS to hormone therapy . Testing for ER is done for most cases of DCIS, but testing for PR is not typically needed. Results for ER and PR are reported separately and can be reported in different ways:
- Negative, weakly positive, positive
- Percent positive with something saying whether the staining is weak, moderate, or strong
Ask your doctor how these results will affect your treatment.
Why Breast Cancer Survival Rates Are Going To Be Higher Than The Most Up
It is important to remember that the breast cancer survival rates that are listed on this page are, in reality, going to be higher.
This is because the breast cancer survival rates data is gathered from a large number of people with the disease over a 5 year period. Hence, even the most up-to-date statistics are still going to be a little out of date.
Thus, with the ongoing improvements and advancements in breast cancer screening, research, early detection and advanced tailored treatment, the outcomes at present will be even better than the statistics listed here.
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What Increases The Risk Of Invasive Breast Cancer
Thereâs no way to know if youâll develop an invasive form of breast cancer, but there are things that increase your chances, many of which you canât change.
Older women are at higher risk. About 10% of women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer are under age 45. And 2 out of every 3 women with invasive breast cancer are age 55 or older when theyâre first diagnosed.
Your genetics and family history of breast cancer play roles. Itâs more common among white women than black, Asian, or Hispanic women.
Also, youâre at higher risk if youâre obese, your breasts are dense, you didnât have children, or you became pregnant after the age of 35.
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What Is A Breast Papilloma And Is It Cancer
Also called intraductal papilloma, a breast papilloma is a small, wartlike growth in the breasts milk ducts. This benign condition may cause a clear or bloody discharge from the nipple, or you may feel a small lump behind or next to the nipple. Having one papilloma does not raise your breast cancer risk, though having several of these growths has been linked to higher risk.
What Is Stage 0 Lcis
Lobular carcinoma in situ at Stage 0 generally is not considered cancer. Although it has carcinoma in the name, it really describes a growth of abnormal but non-invasive cells forming in the lobules. Some experts prefer the name lobular neoplasia for this reason because it accurately refers to the abnormal cells without naming them as cancer. LCIS, however, may indicate a woman has an increased risk of developing breast cancer.
If you have been diagnosed with LCIS, your doctor may recommend regular clinical breast exams and mammograms. He or she may also prescribe Tamoxifen, a hormone therapy medication that helps prevent cancer cells from growing.
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Is Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Dangerous
In the early stages, IDC can be difficult to notice, as it causes few symptoms, which can make it dangerous. However, if you are doing regular self-breast checks and screening mammograms, it is likely to be caught sooner rather than later. Some signs of breast cancer to keep an eye out for during your breast checks are breast pain, nipple pain, inverted nipple, swelling of the breast , dimpling, irritation, redness, scaliness, or thickening of the nipple/breast skin or breast tissue, a lump in the underarm, or discharge from the nipple that is not milk.
Targeted Therapy For Idc
Targeted therapies are medicines that target specific characteristics of cancer cells, such as a protein that allows the cancer cells to grow in a fast or abnormal way. Targeted therapies affect the whole body, so they are considered systemic treatments.
There are many targeted therapy medicines that fall into different drug classes depending on the characteristic they target. Examples of targeted therapy drug classes include HER2 inhibitors, PARP inhibitors, CDK4/6 inhibitors, and PI3K inhibitors. Whether certain targeted therapies are used also may depend on your treatment history and other characteristics of the cancer.
Targeted therapies that can be used to treat early-stage IDC, depending on the characteristics of the cancer and your individual situation, include:
- Herceptin
- Kadcyla
- Nerlynx
- Perjeta
Targeted therapies that can be used to treat advanced-stage or metastatic IDC, depending on the characteristics of the cancer and your individual situation, include:
- Afinitor
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There Are Three Ways That Cancer Spreads In The Body
- TX: Primary tumor cannot be assessed.
- T0: No sign of a primary tumor in the breast.
- Tis: Carcinoma in situ. There are 2 types of breast carcinoma in situ:
- Tis : DCIS is a condition in which abnormal cells are found in the lining of a breast duct. The abnormal cells have not spread outside the duct to other tissues in the breast. In some cases, DCIS may become invasive breast cancer that is able to spread to other tissues. At this time, there is no way to know which lesions can become invasive.
- Tis : Paget disease of the nipple is a condition in which abnormal cells are found in the skin cells of the nipple and may spread to the areola. It is not staged according to the TNM system. If Paget disease AND an invasive breast cancer are present, the TNM system is used to stage the invasive breast cancer.
Treatment For Invasive Breast Cancer
As with all types of breast cancer, the treatments youre offered will depend on the features of invasive breast cancer seen under the microscope. This includes the size, grade, hormone receptor status and HER2 status.
Treatment aims to remove the cancer and reduce the risk of it coming back or spreading to other parts of the body.
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Side Effects And Complications
All treatments have some side effects that range from mild to severe. Most clear up when treatment ends, but there can be some lasting complications.
Its important to tell your oncologist about all symptoms, even if they seem minor. Your healthcare team will work with you to ease side effects and deal with complications.
The Grading System Is Used To Describe How Quickly A Breast Tumor Is Likely To Grow And Spread
The grading system describes a tumor based on how abnormal the cancer cells and tissue look under a microscope and how quickly the cancer cells are likely to grow and spread. Low-grade cancer cells look more like normal cells and tend to grow and spread more slowly than high-grade cancer cells. To describe how abnormal the cancer cells and tissue are, the pathologist will assess the following three features:
- How much of the tumor tissue has normal breast ducts.
- The size and shape of the nuclei in the tumor cells.
- How many dividing cells are present, which is a measure of how fast the tumor cells are growing and dividing.
For each feature, the pathologist assigns a score of 1 to 3 a score of 1 means the cells and tumor tissue look the most like normal cells and tissue, and a score of 3 means the cells and tissue look the most abnormal. The scores for each feature are added together to get a total score between 3 and 9.
Three grades are possible:
- Total score of 3 to 5: G1 .
- Total score of 6 to 7: G2 .
- Total score of 8 to 9: G3 .
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Living With Stage : The Breast Cancer No One Understands
Editor’s note: We’re bringing back this piece from October 2014 for Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day and to honor Jody Schoger, featured in the story. Schoger died of metastatic breast cancer in May. Want to learn more about MBC? Look for our tweets at the Northwest Metastatic Breast Cancer Conference this Saturday at Fred Hutch.
A no-nonsense Texan of 60 years, Jody Schoger* has a very no-nonsense way of educating people about her metastatic breast cancer.
âSomeone will say, âWhen are you done with treatment?â and Iâll tell them, âWhen Iâm dead,ââ said Schoger, a writer and cancer advocate who lives near Houston. âSo many people interpret survivorship as going across the board. That everybody survives cancer now. But everybody does not survive cancer.â
An estimated 155,000-plus women in the U.S. currently live with âmets,â or metastatic breast cancer. This type of cancer, also called stage 4 breast cancer, means the cancer has metastasized, or traveled, through the bloodstream to create tumors in the liver, lungs, brain, bones and/or other parts of the body. Between 20 and 30 percent of women with early stage breast cancer go on to develop metastatic disease. While treatable, metastatic breast cancer cannot be cured. The five-year survival rate for stage 4 breast cancer is 22 percent median survival is three years. Annually, the disease takes 40,000 lives.
Hormone Receptor Status Influences Breast Cancer Survival Rates
The hormone receptor status of a breast tumour is not usually included in formal discussions of prognosis.
Each breast tumour will potentially have a different hormone receptor status. When a breast cancer tumour tests positive for the hormones estrogen and progesterone, it implies two things:-
Therefore, due to improvements in treatments, overall survival rates will be higher for hormone receptor positive breast tumors than for those that are hormone negative.
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How Is Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Of Breast Treated
Treatment options available for individuals with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma of Breast are dependent upon the following:
- Type of cancer
- The staging of the cancer
- Whether the cancer cells are sensitive to certain particular hormones, and
- Personal preferences
In general, breast cancer stages range from 0 to IV. 0 may indicate a small and non-invasive cancer, while IV indicates that the cancer has spread to other areas of the body. Briefly, as per US National Cancer Institute , breast cancer is staged as follows:
- Stage 0 : The abnormal cancer cells are confined to their site of origin
- Stage I: The tumor is 2 centimeters in diameter or less, and has not spread outside the breast
- Stage II: The tumor may be up to 5 centimeters in diameter and may have spread to lymph nodes. Another criteria is that the tumor may be larger than 5 centimeters in diameter, but has not spread to surrounding lymph nodes
- Stage III: The tumor may be more than 5 centimeters in diameter and may have spread to several axillary lymph nodes, or to the lymph nodes near the breastbone. The cancer may also have spread to the breast skin/chest wall, causing ulcer-like sores, or a swelling
- Stage IV: The tumor has spread outside the breast and to other organs, such as the bones, liver, lungs, or brain, regardless of its size
If breast cancer is diagnosed, staging helps determine whether it has spread and which treatment options are best for the patient.
Hormone therapy:
- Stage 2A
- Stage 2B
Stage 2A can mean:
Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Stages
Invasive ductal carcinoma stages provide physicians with a uniform way to describe how far a patients cancer may have spread beyond its original location in a milk duct. This information can be helpful when evaluating treatment options, but it is not a prognostic indicator in and of itself. Many factors can influence a patients outcome, so the best source of information for understanding a breast cancer prognosis is always a physician who is familiar with the patients case.
In general, breast cancer stages are established based on three key variables: the size of a tumor, the extent of lymph node involvement and whether the cancer has spread to other areas of the body. This information may be obtained through a combination of clinical examinations, imaging studies, blood tests, lymph node removal and tissue samples . If, based on the initial test results, a physician believes that the cancer may have spread to other parts of the body, further testing may be ordered, such as a bone scan, positron emission tomography scan or liver function test.
Invasive ductal carcinoma is usually described through a numeric scale ranging from 1 to 4 . Specifically, the invasive ductal carcinoma stages are:
If youd like to learn more about invasive ductal carcinoma stages and treatment options, call or complete a new patient registration form online.
- BROWSE
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The Use Of Certain Medicines And Other Factors Decrease The Risk Of Breast Cancer
Anything that decreases your chance of getting a disease is called a protective factor.
Protective factors for breast cancer include the following:
- Taking any of the following:
T Categories For Breast Cancer
T followed by a number from 0 to 4 describes the main tumors size and if it has spread to the skin or to the chest wall under the breast. Higher T numbers mean a larger tumor and/or wider spread to tissues near the breast.
TX: Primary tumor cannot be assessed.
T0: No evidence of primary tumor.
Tis: Carcinoma in situ
T1 : Tumor is 2 cm or less across.
T2: Tumor is more than 2 cm but not more than 5 cm across.
T3: Tumor is more than 5 cm across.
T4 : Tumor of any size growing into the chest wall or skin. This includes inflammatory breast cancer.
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