Ductal Cancer
Ductal cancer is the most common type of breast cancer.
The cancer has formed in a breast duct.
Lobular Cancer
The cancer has formed in a breast lobule.
Sometimes a breast cancer can have features of both ductal and lobular cancer.
Other names of breast cancers you may hear include Paget’s Disease, medullary, mucinous and inflammatory breast cancer. They receive their names because of the way the cancer cells look.
In Situ and Invasive are two other terms that are used to describe breast cancer.
In Situ - means the cancer cells have stayed inside the duct or lobule.
Invasive - means the cells have multiplied and broken through either the ductal or lobular wall and have spread into nearby areas. This may also be called ‘infiltrating’.
A tumour develops its own blood vessels. Cancer cells can then travel or spread from these blood vessels to the lymph nodes and other parts of the body by way of the body’s circulatory system. Metastasis means that the cancer cells have spread to other parts of the body.