For many women, breast cancer is a dreaded diagnosis. One in eight women will be diagnosed with this disease, according to the National Institutes of Health. Breast cancer can be categorized into different types: type 1 is early in the cancer development, and can be easily treated; type 4, on the other hand, is quite advanced and difficult to treat, according to the Mayo Clinic. However, type 2 breast cancer is not an invasive form of breast cancer, and can be treated. In addition, patients with breast cancer type 2 have a high survival rate.
Symptoms
Type 2 breast cancer is still early in the development stages, so symptoms are just beginning to show. According to the National Institutes of Health, symptoms of type 2 breast cancer are a breast lump or armpit lump that feels hard with uneven edges; however, the lump does not hurt. In addition, there may be a change in the breast or nipple, such as differences in size, shape and feel, or fluid emitted from the nipple. The breast may have redness, dimpling or puckering, and the fluid from the nipple may appear bloody, clear-to-yellow or green.
Tumor Size
According to the Mayo Clinic, the classification of tumor size in type 2 breast cancer is dependent on where the cancer has spread. Type 2 breast cancer can fit into three different groupings. The first form of type 2 tumor is more than 5 centimeters in diameter, but the tumor has not spread to the axillary lymph nodes in the underarm. The second form of type 2 tumor is less than 2o centimeters in diameter, but has spread to a maximum of three axillary lymph nodes. With the third form of type 3 cancer, no tumor is found in the breast, but the disease has spread to a maximum of three axillary lymph nodes.
Survival Rate
The Mayo Clinic and the National Institutes of Health list slightly different five-year survival rates. According to the Mayo Clinic, the survival rate is between 86 percent and 91 percent. The American Cancer Society, as stated on the National Institutes of Health's website, puts the survival rate for type 2A at 92 percent and the survival rate for type 2B at 81 percent; the difference between type 2A and 2B is the spread of the cancer to the lymph nodes.
Treatment
According to the National Institutes of Health, the treatment goal for type 2 breast cancer is to treat the cancer and prevent it from recurring. The standard treatment, according to the National Institutes of Health, is to perform a lumpectomy with radiation, or to do a mastectomy with a lymph node removal. In addition, hormone therapy, chemotherapy and biologic therapy may also be used after surgery.
Note
If type 2 breast cancer is left untreated, the cancer will progress to type 3.
