Ductal cell adenocarcinoma of the breast - Research Paper Example

About 20% of the breast cancer is found to have its origin at DCIS. If proper treatment is not given to DCIS then, the cells will invade all the ducts and cause cancer. It is not true that DCIS will get converted into cancer. But DCIS can develop into cancer if proper treatment is not given to them.1 Introduction: Breast carcinoma is a type of cancer that develops at the breast. This cancer is either invasive or noninvasive. The non invasive carcinoma is of two types. They are ductal carcinoma and lobular carcinoma.

Ductal adenocarcinoma refers to the occurrence of cancerous cells at the ducts. The cancerous cells are found at the linings of the ducts. They lack the ability to spread from one type of cell to another. This is the main reason for calling it as pre-cancer. There are three level of DCIS : low grade, intermediate and high grade DCIS. Clinical features: In US, around 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. The risk factors vary between the individuals. The statistical analysis has concluded that there is no single factor that develops breast cancer but there are many factors that increase the risk of breast cancer in women.

Some of them are increasing age, history of the family, previous history of breast cancer, biopsy abnormalities, heavy exposure to radiation, pregnancy and breast feeding ( for women of age > 30 during pregnancy) and hormone replacement therapy. 2 Of these risk factors age, family history and the history of breast cancer are said to be very high risk factors. The increase in age is one of the most important factors that increase the risk. The studies have found that women of age greater than 50 are prone to more risk than the women of age 40.

The risk percentage is 85 and 5 respectively. The women, who have never given birth to a child, face greater risks at the time of menopause. The age during the first child birth should be less than 28 years. The risk for breast cancer increases if the first child birth is after 30 years. Similarly the hormonal replacement therapy is also found to be another reason for the breast cancer. The glandular tissue of the women are replaced by the fat during menopause time, when hormone therapy is done for these patients, they are more prone for the breast cancer.

Radiation therapy is another reason for the development of breast cancer. Heavy exposure to radiation at the chest region as a part of cancer therapy or some other reason increases the risk. The Ductal carcinoma is usually asymptomatic. The symptoms for the occurrence of DCIS are nipple inversion, dimpling of the breast skin, nipple discharge and presence of lump in the underarm area. The symptom of DCIS is usually the presence of lump at the breast or the nipple discharge. According to the “Merck manual”, most of the women diagnosed with breast cancer are found to have felt the presence of lump at the breast.

The best screening method for DCIS is mammogram only. Most of the DCIS were identified after the mammogram testing only. Fig: The Ductal carcinoma of the breast. The cancer has not moved above the basement membrane and they are not capable of metastasis.3 Pathological features: The biopsy is performed after the mammogram for the confirmation of the DCIS. Breast biopsy is nothing but the removal of a small part of the breast for the analysis. While scanning, the presence of space in the ducts is identified and confirmed for the presence of DCIS.

Fig: The presence of spac