Types of Breast Cancer

• Noninvasive carcinomas

• Invasive carcinomas

1. Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)

2. Comedocarcinoma

1. Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC)

2. Medullary breast cancer

3. Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC)

• Noninvasive carcinoma

• “Ductal carcinoma in situ”

• No penetration of the basement membrane

• Preceded by ductal atypia

• Frequently appears as a pattern of grouped microcalcifications on mammography

• Higher risk of subsequent ipsilateral invasive carcinoma

subtype of DCIS characterized by central necrosis

By the absence of stromal invasion.

• Characteristics

  • Most common type of invasive breast cancer (∼ 80%) [11]

  • Aggressive formation of metastases

• Localization

  • Unilateral

  • Mostly unifocal

• Rare subtype of invasive ductal carcinoma

• Most common tumor associated with the BRCA1 mutation

• Well-circumscribed soft tumor with smooth borders (may appear benign)

• Usually triple-negative

• Lymphadenopathy

• Differential diagnosis: fibroadenoma

• Characteristics

  • ∼ 10% of all invasive breast carcinomas

  • Less aggressive than ductal carcinoma

• Localization

  • Bilateral in ∼ 20% of cases

  • Frequently multifocal

• Mucinous carcinoma (< 5%; more common in older women)

• Mixed carcinoma (ductal/lobular)

• Tubular carcinoma

• Papillary carcinoma of the breast

  • A rare type of invasive ductal carcinoma with a peak incidence between the ages of 60 and 70

  • More common among non-white women

  • The tumor has a very low frequency of lymph node metastasis.

  • Nearly 90% of the tumors express estrogen receptors.

• Micropapillary carcinoma