In the United States, 1 in 3 cancers diagnosed in women are breast cancer. Men can also be diagnosed with this condition. If you have been diagnosed with breast cancer, a wide range of treatments are available. Your oncology care team will be there for you and will determine the optimal treatment or combination of treatments for your condition.
Types, grades and stages of breast cancer
Breast cancer patients can receive up to three classifications for their breast cancer: type, grade and stage. It is important to know your specific diagnosis so you can better understand your treatment plan.
There are two main types of breast cancer, which differ in their points of origin in the breast.
- Ductal carcinoma begins in the cells that line the milk ducts in the breast, also called the lining of the breast ducts.
- Lobular carcinoma begins in the lobes, or lobules (the glands that make milk), of the breast.
Breast cancer grades refer to how close the biopsy sample looks to normal breast tissue and how rapidly the cancer cells are dividing. The lower the number, the slower the cancer is growing, making it less likely to spread.
Staging identifies if the cancer has spread within your breast or to other parts of your body.
- Stage 0 (ductal carcinoma in situ or DCIS): Cancer has not spread beyond the actual tumor.
- Stages I, II and III: Stage I is smaller in size, is less likely to have lymph node involvement, and has lower risk molecular features. Stage III is larger and is more likely to have lymph node involvement or other high-risk molecular features.
- Stage IV: Cancer has spread to other organs of the body, most often the bones, lungs, liver or brain. Breast cancer is also classified by whether the cancer has estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors (PR) and/or a growth-promoting protein called HER2/neu.
Treatment options
Once the type, grade and stage have been determined, you and your breast cancer care team will determine the best treatment/s for you. The most common treatments are: ·
- Surgery, including lumpectomy or mastectomy
- The goal of a lumpectomy is to remove the cancer and some of the surrounding normal tissue while leaving the remainder of your breast intact. A lumpectomy is considered a “breast-conserving” surgery.
- A mastectomy removes your entire breast.
- To learn more about these procedures, visit Lumpectomy vs. mastectomy: what to know on the Sarah Cannon website.
- Your treatment may include the removal of lymph nodes.
- Chemotherapy is administered before surgery to shrink cancer cells (also known as neoadjuvant therapy) or after surgery to prevent cancer cells from returning (also known as adjuvant therapy).
- Hormonal therapy blocks the hormones estrogen and progesterone, which can encourage the growth of certain tumors.
- Targeted therapy uses drugs or other substances to identify and attack specific cancer cells without harming normal cells.
- Radiation therapy uses high-energy X-rays through either external radiation (sending radiation from outside your body to the cancer) or internal radiation (placing a radioactive substance sealed in needles, seeds or wires directly into or near the cancer).
After receiving treatment for breast cancer, your care team will help you establish further follow-up care for the next steps in your treatment journey.
Contact the askSARAH helpline at (804) 591-4152 for your cancer-related questions, or find an oncologist in your area.
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