Breast cancer is a type of cancer that specifically develops in or around the cells of the breast. There are several types of breast cancer, depending on exact cells affected. For instance, breast cancer can form in any part of the breast tissue as well as in the nearby armpit, or in or around the nipple, or in the milk ducts. When any type of cancer is in the early stage, it is known as carcinoma in situ, wherein carcinoma means cancer and in situ means to be in the original place.

Here are the main types of cancer that affect the breast:

1. Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)
Ductal carcinoma is noninvasive cancer where the abnormal cells are found to be present in the lining of the ducts of the breast milk. The atypical cell does not spread beyond the ducts in the surrounding areas of the breast tissue. This is an early stage of cancer that can be treated. However, in cases where the condition is left undetected or untreated, the cancer can spread to the surrounding tissue of the breast.

2. Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC)
In the invasive ductal carcinoma cancer, cells that are abnormal start growing in the milk ducts and spread further in various parts of the tissues of the breast. In such conditions, the cancer cells that are invasive can also spread to various parts of the body. Such type of breast cancer is at times also known as infiltrative ductal carcinoma. Invasive ductal carcinoma is the type of breast cancer that grows commonly among males. It is one of the most common forms of breast cancers which contributes to nearly seventy to eighty percent of the diagnosis of breast cancer.

3. Triple negative breast cancer
When breast cancer of triple-negative is diagnosed, it means that the three most common forms of receptors that are considered to fuel many breast cancer growths like progesterone, estrogen, and HER-2/neu gene are not found to be there in the cancer tumor. It basically means that the cells have been negatively tested for progesterone receptors, estrogen receptors and, epidermal growth factor receptor II. Because the tumor cells do not have the required receptors, the most common alternatives of treatment such as medications that target progesterone, estrogen as well as HER-2 and hormone therapy are considered to be ineffective. Opting in for chemotherapy for the treatment of breast cancer of triple-negative is considered to be an effective alternative. As a matter of fact, triple-negative does respond well to chemotherapy in initial stages as compared to the other types of cancers. This type of breast cancer comprises ten to twenty percent of the breast cancer diagnosis and has high chances of affecting people who are younger, individuals who have BRCA1 gene mutations, as well as Hispanics and African Americans. This type of breast cancer is aggressive and is harder to treat. This type of breast cancer is also subject to spreading and relapsing.

4. Inflammatory breast cancer
An aggressive and rapidly growing type of breast cancer is inflammatory breast cancer. In this type of breast cancer, cells of the cancer infiltrate the lymph vessels and skin of the breast. There is no distinct lump or tumor produced in this form of breast cancer which can be found in the breast that can be isolated. However, when the lymph vessels of the breast get blocked due to the cells of the breast cancer, the symptoms start getting visible. The early symptoms of this type of breast cancer include constant itching and development of a rash, the breasts becoming warm, swollen and red, and the nipple may show changes like dimpling, flattening, or inversion.

5. Metastatic breast cancer
Also known as stage 4 breast cancer, metastatic breast cancer is called such once it’s spread from the breast to nearby organs and lymph nodes (i.e., lungs, bones, brain, liver, etc.). The majority of metastatic breast cancers are dormant turned back to cancerous cells of the breast left behind post treatment for early stage breast cancers.