Breast Cancer Cells & Lymph Nodes

Breast cancer cells multiply quickly and can invade the lymph nodes.

Breast cancer cells start as normal breast cells in the lobules or ducts of the breast. The lobules are the milk-making glands of the breast and the ducts are the tubes the milk travels through. When you get a breast cancer tumor, one of those cells has changed their DNA so that the cell grows and multiplies out of control.

Breast cancer cells come mostly from the ducts and the lobules and less from the fat and connective tissue in the breast. A normal breast has a lot of fat in it and connective tissue that hold together the lobules and ducts of the breast.

Normal breasts are closely connected to the lymph system, especially to the lymph system of the arm pits. Cancer cells grow quickly and travel through the lymph system to the lymph glands in the arm pits (axillary lymph nodes).

Lymph nodes are bean-shaped, peanut-sized collections of tissue that collect extra cells and immune system cells. The breast cancer cells like to rest in the lymph nodes of the arm pit.

Almost all breast cancer cells travel to the lymph nodes in the arm pit but some can travel to the lymph nodes inside the wall of the chest, called the internal mammary lymph nodes. There are also lymph nodes near the collarbone that can collect cancer cells. When it comes to breast cancer, lymph nodes must be looked at to see if they are involved in cancer.

Looking at breast lumps and lymph nodes

"It is important to know that most lumps in the breast aren't cancerous." It is important to know that most lumps in the breast aren't cancerous. Many are breast cysts that come from blocked breast ducts. These can be removed by taking the liquid out of them.

There can be extra fibrous tissue in the breasts called fibrocystic breast tissue. This tissue can form lumps that are not cancerous. Other abnormal growths are called fibroadenomas or intraductal papillomas, which do not form cancer.

It is also important to know that not all breast cancer cells travel beyond the lymph nodes. This means that they do not form metastases and do not spread to other body areas.

A clump of cancer cells, called a tumor, is especially dangerous when near lymph nodes

"It is important to know that most lumps in the breast aren't cancerous." There are different types of breast cancer cells. Adenocarcinoma is a type of breast cancer that affects the lobules and the ducts of the breast.

If it is called carcinoma in situ, it means that the breast cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes or to any other parts of the breast. Doctors call them non-invasive breast cancer.

Invasive carcinoma is a type of breast cancer that has grown to involve more of the breast tissue and may have traveled to the lymph nodes. The most common type of invasive carcinoma is called intra-ductal breast cancer. The second most common type of invasive breast cancer is called intra-lobular breast cancer.

Sarcomas are breast cancer cells that come from the fat or connective tissue. These are not very common kinds of cancer of the breast.

The most common type of breast cancer is called infiltrative intra-ductal carcinoma. This means that the cancer has spread outside of the milk duct and is in other parts of the breast. Eighty percent of all invasive breast cancer cells are from infiltrating ductal carcinoma.

The second most common breast cancer tumor is called ductal carcinoma in situ. This is a type of breast cancer with a very good prognosis, meaning that few people die from this type of cancer. The cancer is found just within a small cluster of breast cancer cells and has not spread to the lymph nodes. Twenty percent of all cases of breast cancer are of this type of breast cancer.

Lobular carcinoma in situ begins in the milk-producing part of the breast but has not passed beyond the lobule. This is a type of cancer that has a bigger chance of occurring in the same or opposite breast but it does not go outside of the breast area. Someone with this type will have a very good chance of being cured!

Breast cancer in the lymph nodes mean the cancer can spread.

If breast cancer cells have spread to the lymph nodes, this means that the cells can travel past the lymph nodes to other body areas. The breast cancer cells spread through the bloodstream or through the lymph vessels to body areas away from the breast.

It is important to know how many lymph nodes are involved with cancer. This will be measured during a sampling of the lymph nodes when the doctor does surgery to remove the breast cancer. The risk that the cancer has already spread to other body areas Theis higher when the number of lymph nodes involved is greater.

Doctors also look at how much cancer is in the lymph nodes. If there are just a few breast cancer cells involved in a lymph node and it cannot be seen with the naked eye, it is called microscopic disease. It is called 'gross involvement of the lymph node' when there are a lot of breast cancer cells involved in a lymph node.