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Rare Forms Of Breast Cancer Symptoms

Paget’s Disease Of The Breast

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Pagets disease of the breast is a form of breast cancer that causes distinct skin changes on the nipple. A rare disease, accounting for fewer than 3 percent of all breast cancers, it is named for Sir James Paget, the English surgeon who first documented the condition in 1874. Under a microscope, Pagets cells look very different from normal cells, and divide rapidly. About half of the cells test positive for estrogen and progesterone receptors, and most test positive for the HER2 protein. Although women with Pagets disease of the breast sometimes have tumors inside the breast tissue, its most noticeable symptoms involve changes to the skin of the nipple or areola , creating oozing or the appearance of eczema. The cancer is typically diagnosed with a biopsy of the tissue, sometimes followed by a mammogram, sonogram or MRI to confirm the diagnosis. Pagets disease of the breast is not related in any medical way to other conditions named after Sir James Paget, such as Pagets disease of the bone.

The main symptoms of Pagets disease of the breast are superficial skin changes, limited to the nipple or areola, that are sometimes mistakenly dismissed as innocuous. Those symptoms include:

The primary treatment for Pagets disease of the breast is most often the surgical removal of the tumor. Cancers that are diagnosed in the early stages may be treated with breast-conserving lumpectomy, while more advanced malignancies may require a mastectomy.

Stage 4 Breast Cancer

Stage 4 breast cancer can have a tumor of any size. Its cancer cells have spread to nearby and distant lymph nodes as well as distant organs.

The testing your doctor does will determine the stage of your breast cancer, which will affect your treatment.

Although they generally have less of it, men have breast tissue just like women do. Men can develop breast cancer too, but its much rarer.

According to the ACS , breast cancer is 70 times less common in Black men than in Black women. Its 100 times less common in white men than in white women.

That said, the breast cancer that men develop is just as serious as the breast cancer that women develop. It also has the same symptoms. If youre a man, follow the same monitoring instructions as women and report any changes to breast tissue or new lumps to your doctor.

What Is A 5

A relative survival rate compares women with the same type and stage of breast cancer to women in the overall population. For example, if the 5-year relative survival rate for a specific stage of breast cancer is 70%, it means that women who have that cancer are, on average, about 70% as likely as women who dont have that cancer to live for at least 5 years after being diagnosed.

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What Are The Stages Of Triple

  • There are abnormal cells but they have not spread to nearby tissue.
  • Cancer has spread to other tissue in a small area.
  • The cancer is invasive, but the tumor is still localized and has not spread beyond the breast. Its between 20 and 50 mm . It has spread to some lymph nodes. Or, the tumor is more than 50 mm but has not spread to lymph nodes.
  • The cancer is regional. Its more than 50 mm . Its spread to more lymph nodes over a larger area. In some cases, theres no tumor.
  • This is metastatic cancer that has spread beyond the breast to other parts of the body.

What Are Signs And Symptoms Of Lobular Breast Cancer How Does The Breast Tissue Feel

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There may not be any obvious signs of lobular breast cancer at first. Unlike more common breast cancers, lobular breast cancer is less likely to form into a lump in the breast tissue or under the arm. Instead, you may feel a fullness, thickening or swelling in one area that feels different from the surrounding area. Nipple flattening or inversion can also be a sign of lobular breast cancer.

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The 5 Warning Signs Of Breast Cancer

Here are 5 warning signs that you might have breast cancer:

  • A new lump in your breast or underarm : Lumps are the most common and noticeable warning signs of breast cancer. Very small lumps, that cannot be seen or felt by the naked eye, are only detected by a radiologist during a mammogram.
  • Swelling or a lump under the arm or near the collarbone: this symptom could mean there is some spread of abnormal cells/tissue to lymph nodes . Any swelling or unusual lumps may indicate lymph node invasion. Swelling is typically noticed before a lump is discovered.
  • Increase in size, shape, or feel of the breast.
  • Change in the feel or look of the nipple.
  • Swelling, redness, or darkening of the surface of your breast.

How Early Can Ibc Be Diagnosed

Because of IBCs quick-growing and aggressive nature, combined with its tendency to be misdiagnosed, its commonly diagnosed at an advanced stage.

  • IBC tends to grow in layers, which is why it can be missed during exams.
  • On imaging, these sheets of tissue can resemble nests.
  • Your doctor may be able to feel these areas of thickening on your skin, as well as possibly see areas of higher density on a mammogram.
  • Routine blood tests may not pick up abnormalities related to inflammatory breast cancer.

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Pagets Disease Of The Breast Or Nipple

Pagets disease of the breast or nipple is a rare skin cancer that appears on the nipple or areola. It generally affects the milk ducts first and then spreads to the areola or nipple. This cancer is problematic to diagnose because it presents symptoms such as redness, itchiness, and scaliness that often look similar to other skin abnormalities that are more common to see on the breast.

Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma Of The Breast

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Less than 1 in 100 breast cancers are adenoid cystic cancer. This type of cancer is also sometimes called a cribriform cancer. It is a cancer type that is more often diagnosed in the salivary glands, but some develop in the breast tissue.

It is generally seen in older people but has been seen in people as young as 25.

Adenoid cystic breast cancer tends to be slow growing. Doctors usually recommend surgery. Most women dont need to have the whole breast removed . Instead, your doctor will just remove the area of the cancer. This operation is called breast conserving surgery.

The cancer rarely spreads elsewhere in the body. So you don’t usually need to have your lymph nodes removed. The risk of this type of tumour coming back is low, so the outlook is good.

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Medullary Carcinoma Of The Breast

It is a rare type of breast cancer accounting for up to 1 5% of breast cancers. It occurs most commonly in younger women especially those who have faulty BRCA 1 gene. Oncologists and pathologist identify these types of tumours by looking at the cell boundaries of cancer cells that clearly separate tumour cells from normal tissues. The tumour cells also contain white blood cells.

The medullary tumour appears like a soft, fleshy mass low grade and less aggressive in nature and easy to treat. The treatment is the same as for other types of invasive breast cancers surgery, medication, radiation therapy. The outlook is good.

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Does Radiation Shorten Your Life

Rapidly dividing cells, such as cancer cells, are more affected by radiation therapy than normal cells. The body may respond to this damage with fibrosis or scarring, though this is generally a mild process and typically does not cause any long-term problems that substantially affect quality of life.

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Breast Or Nipple Pain

Breast cancer can cause changes in skin cells that lead to feelings of pain, tenderness, and discomfort in the breast. If a lump is present, it is not painful.

Although breast cancer is often painless, it is important not to ignore any signs or symptoms that could be due to breast cancer.

Some people

may be a sign of breast cancer.

Although changes in the size of the breast can be a symptom of any type of breast cancer, the National Cancer Institute states that a rapid increase in breast size could be an indication of inflammatory breast cancer. This is a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer.

If someone notices that either or both of their breasts have increased in size, they should consider contacting a doctor.

Signs And Symptoms Of Inflammatory Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer

Inflammatory breast cancer causes a number of signs and symptoms, most of which develop quickly , including:

  • Swelling of the skin of the breast
  • Redness involving more than one-third of the breast
  • Pitting or thickening of the skin of the breast so that it may look and feel like an orange peel
  • A retracted or inverted nipple
  • One breast looking larger than the other because of swelling
  • One breast feeling warmer and heavier than the other
  • A breast that may be tender, painful or itchy
  • Swelling of the lymph nodes under the arms or near the collarbone

If you have any of these symptoms, it does not mean that you have IBC, but you should see a doctor right away. Tenderness, redness, warmth, and itching are also common symptoms of a breast infection or inflammation, such as mastitis if youre pregnant or breastfeeding. Because these problems are much more common than IBC, your doctor might suspect infection at first as a cause and treat you with antibiotics.

Treatment with antibiotics may be a good first step, but if your symptoms dont get better in 7 to 10 days, more tests need to be done to look for cancer. Let your doctor know if it doesn’t help, especially if the symptoms get worse or the affected area gets larger. The possibility of IBC should be considered more strongly if you have these symptoms and are not pregnant or breastfeeding, or have been through menopause. Ask to see a specialist if youre concerned.

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The Origins Of Tnbc Subtyping

During the last decade, several groups invested their efforts into characterizing TNBC at different molecular levels. The first attempts to stratify TNBC were based on histology, immunohistochemistry , and transcriptomic profiling . In 2013, TNBC was classified using 13 IHC markers by Elsawaf et al. This study identified four groups according to the expression patterns of cytokeratins . After subsetting, patients with luminal or basoluminal displayed a significantly worse survival than patients with basal A or basal B TNBC tumors .

Table 1 Examples of TNBC stratification methods.

Life Style And Dietary Cause

Sedentary life style, high dietary intake of fat obesity particularly in postmenopausal women may cause breast cancer. The use of alcohol is also another one cause of breast cancer. The risk increases with the amount of alcohol consumed. Women who consume two to five alcoholic beverages per day have a risk about one and a half times that of nondrinkers for the development of breast cancer.

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Nonsurgical Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Treatment

Radiation. Radiation therapy might be part of your treatment plan if you are undergoing a lumpectomy. Studies show that lumpectomy followed by radiation can be as effective in treating IDC as mastectomy. We dont usually treat patients with radiation after a mastectomy unless theres some cancer in the lymph nodes, Wright says.

Chemotherapy. Deciding on whether to treat invasive ductal breast cancer with chemotherapy, or chemo, depends on features of the tumor cells themselves their genes and proteins. The more the doctor can learn about the characteristics of the cancer cells, the easier it is to determine what type of chemotherapy is likely to be effective.

Hormone therapy. Breast cancers with positive hormone receptors can be treated with estrogen or progesterone. These medications come in pill form, and may be prescribed for several years.

Biologic therapy. This approach uses antibodies or small molecule drugs to activate your bodys immune system to fight the invasive ductal cancer cells.

Or Your Nipples Are Leaking

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Is there anything more alarming than having your breasts start squirting liquid when theres no baby involved? Its normal to have some leakage during pregnancy while breastfeeding, and up to a year after weaning your baby, but if you notice any discharge any other time it needs to be evaluated by a doctor, says Dr. Patt.

Random dischargeespecially if its red or green or has an odormight mean you have a problem, including cancer of the breast or the pituitary gland, Dr. Patt explains.

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You Feel A Strange Tickling Sensation

How your breasts feel internally can be just as important as how they feel on the outside, says Sherry Ross, MD, an OB-GYN and author of She-ology. Some women report feeling a sensation almost like theyre being tickled from the inside, their breast feels like its buzzing or prickly inside, or like their breast milk is letting down , she says.

Weird feelings can happen for no reason at all but if youre experiencing strange sensations in your breast that are abnormal and recurring, its time to call your doc, she says.

How Is Primary Angiosarcoma Of The Breast Diagnosed

A screening mammogram may pick up on a mass you didnt know was there. But primary angiosarcoma of the breast tends to occur in younger women who may not have started routine breast cancer screening mammograms.

If you have a breast lump or other signs of breast cancer, your doctor will likely perform a clinical exam, followed by a diagnostic mammogram. Other imaging tests may include:

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Receptor Status And Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Your pathology report and your healthcare providers may describe your breast cancer as estrogen receptor , progesterone receptor or human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 positive or negative. Or, they may say that your breast cancer is triple negative or triple positive.

Estrogen and progesterone receptors are proteins found in some cancer cells that allow a hormone to attach and feed the cancer cells. Hormone receptor status is reported as positive or negative and sometimes a percent is also provided. For example, 90% estrogen receptor positive. ER/PR+ breast cancers will, at a minimum, receive some form of hormone therapy such as Tamoxifen.

HER2 is a protein involved in normal cell growth, which may also be present on breast cancer cells. If too much of the HER2 protein is produced, the tumor is considered HER2+ . Breast cancers that are HER2+ will receive HER2 directed therapy such as Herceptin.

Triple positive breast cancer is positive for HER2, ER and PR. You will receive HER2 directed therapies as well as hormone therapy.

Triple negative breast cancer is negative for HER2, ER and PR. Therefore, HER2 directed therapy and hormone therapy are not utilized. Typical treatment is chemotherapy.

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How Is Ibc Different From Other Types Of Breast Cancer

Unlike with other types of breast cancers, only 15 percent of people diagnosed with IBC have a lump. Thats why it can be mistaken for breast infections or injuries because of the redness and swelling it causes. While its possible to detect IBC on a mammogram, the imaging device may not recognize evidence of disease because the cancer forms in layers.

More women than men are affected by IBC, and it tends to be seen in younger women than other breast cancers. Black women are also at a slightly higher risk of the disease than white women, and being overweight or obese is also known risk factor for IBC.

What Is The Most Aggressive Form Of Breast Cancer

most aggressive breast cancersbreast cancertype of breast cancerbreast cancerformcancerbreast

Also question is, what are the 4 types of breast cancer?

Types. Types of breast cancer include ductal carcinoma in situ, invasive ductal carcinoma, inflammatory breast cancer, and metastatic breast cancer. Metastatic breast cancer is also classified as Stage 4 breast cancer. The cancer has spread to other parts of the body.

how aggressive is triple negative breast cancer? In normal, healthy breast cells, the HER2 stimulates cell growth. Triplenegative breast cancer is considered to be more aggressive and have a poorer prognosis than other types of breast cancer, mainly because there are fewer targeted medicines that treat triplenegative breast cancer.

Besides, which type of breast cancer has the best prognosis?

In general, tubular, mucinous and medullary breast carcinomas have a better prognosis than the other sub-types.

What is the most aggressive form of cancer?

Top Five Most Dangerous Cancers in Men and Women

  • Lung & bronchus 87,260 male deaths in 2013.
  • Prostate 29,720 male deaths in 2013.
  • Colon & rectum 26,300 male deaths in 2013.
  • Pancreas 19,480 male deaths in 2013.
  • Liver & intrahepatic bile duct 14,890 male deaths in 2013.

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