Breast Cancer - Medical Negligence Solicitors – Compensation Claims

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Breast Cancer

Breast cancer can range from a minor lump of cancer that is easily removed to metastatic disease requiring chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. There are a wide variety of breast cancer choices, depending on the type and stage of cancer. There are a number of symptoms of breast cancer to be aware of. There are no symptoms in the beginning of the disorder and symptoms increase as the cancer grows:

You can have a lump in the breast or axilla that is present before and after your menstrual cycle.
Swelling in the axilla.
Pain or tenderness in the breast (although they are usually painless).
Flattening of the breast on one side. Indentation on one side.
Change in the size or contour of the breast. An orange-peel pitting of the breast.
Nipple retraction, dimpling or itching of the nipple.
Clear or bloody discharge from the nipple.
Marble-like area underneath the skin.
Two distinctly different breasts.

Some of the above changes can be found on a breast exam at home or in the doctor’s office. Cancer can happen to anyone at any age or race. It is one of the most common types of cancer in women, although it ranks up there with lung cancer and colon cancer. US women have a one in eight chance of developing invasive breast cancer during their lifetime. More than a million women in the US have breast cancer and don’t even know it.

The anatomy of the breast can relate to getting breast cancer. The breast consists of fat, glands, fibrous connective tissue, lobules and lobes, and tiny ducts. Cancer can occur in the ducts and glands of the breast and not so much in the fatty parts of the breast.

Invasive breast cancer has spread beyond the membrane of the lobule or duct it resides in. This means it can travel to outside areas, such as the lymph nodes. When the breast cancer is found in other body areas, it is called metastatic cancer. The two most common types of invasive breast cancer are:

Invasive ductal carcinoma or IDC. Cancers of this type begins in the milk duct and then invades fatty tissue of the breast. It can be localized or metastatic. It is the most common type.
Invasive lobular carcinoma or ILC. This accounts for between 10 and 15 percent of invasive cancers of the breast. It feels less like a lump and more like a thickening in the breast.

Doctors use various devices to stage breast cancer. The stage of breast cancer determines how severe the disease in and relates to survivability. Tools used to stage breast cancer include biopsies of lymph nodes, MRI of the breast and chest, or CT scan of the chest, and biopsies of other body areas. The stages are based upon the size of the cancer, invasiveness versus non-invasiveness, whether cancer is in the lymph nodes, and where the cancer has traveled to.

Stages go from stage 0 to IV. Stage IV is considered the most ominous stage of breast cancer

Stage 0: this describes non-invasive breast cancers like carcinoma in situ with no evidence of cancer spreading beyond the part of the breast it began in. The survival rate of this stage of cancer is exceptionally high.

Stage I: this involves breast cancer that is invading surrounding breast tissue. Stage IA means the tumor is 2 cm in diameter and has not spread outside the breast at all. Stage IB means there are groups of cancer cells without a big lump and there are small 2 mm areas found in the lymph nodes.

Stage II: this is divided into subcategories IA and IIB. In IIA, no tumor is found in the breast but cancer is found in 1-3 lymph nodes or the tumor is less than 2 cm diameter and has spread to axillary lymph nodes or the tumor is 2-5 centimeters but has not spread to axillary lymph nodes. Stage IIB means the tumor is 2-5 centimeters and clusters of small cancerous areas are found in lymph nodes. It can also mean that 1-3 lymph nodes in the axilla or breast bone lymph nodes exist with a size of 3-5 centimeters or the tumor is 5 cm or more but has not spread to axillary lymph nodes.

Stage III: this involves subcategories of IIIA, IIIB, or IIIC. In stage IIIA, no tumor is found in breast but cancer is found in 4-9 axillary lymph nodes or in lymph nodes near the breast bone or the tumor is bigger than 5 cm with clusters of cells found in lymph nodes or the tumor is greater than 5 cm and 1-3 axillary lymph nodes are involved. In stage IIIB, the tumor can be any size and has spread to the chest wall or skin of the breast and spread up to 9 axillary lymph nodes or spread to lymph nodes near the breast bone. Stage IIIC involves spread to the chest wall and spread to up to 10 or more lymph nodes or lymph nodes near the collarbone or breastbone.

Stage IV: this means spread to distant body areas such as the lungs, bone, liver or brain. This is metastatic disease.

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