The different types of breast cancers as 'Dear Deidre' Sanders shares update
Watch: Deirdre Sanders reveals her breast cancer has returned two years after initial diagnosis
This Morning star Deidre Sanders has revealed her breast cancer has returned, two years after she first received the diagnosis.
The agony aunt said the cancer was found in her left breast during an annual check-up. In an appearance on the ITV show on Tuesday 1 October, she said she was "taken aback" by the discovery as she "wasn't expecting it at all".
Sanders, who is famous for being The Sun's 'Dear Deirdre' columnist, praised the NHS for catching the "tiny but malignant lump" early, and urged other women over 70 to request a mammogram every year.
When she was first diagnosed in 2022, Sanders shared that she had a very specific form of breast cancer known as "high grade ductal carcinoma in situ", which was discovered after missing a routine mammogram.
She helped raise awareness that there are several different types we might want to know more about.
Breast cancer types
There are a number of different types of breast cancer, which can develop in different parts of the breast, with some more common than others.
According to the NHS, breast cancer is typically divided into either:
Non-invasive breast cancer ('carcinoma in situ')
This is found in the ducts of the breast, known as ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), and has not yet spread into the breast tissue surrounding the ducts themselves. Non-invasive breast cancer is often found during a mammogram and rarely shows a lump.
Invasive breast cancer
This is where the cancer cells have spread through the lining of the ducts around the breast tissue, and is the most common type of breast cancer.
Rare breast cancer types
Invasive (and pre-invasive) lobular breast cancer is another less common type, which is when the cancer has started in the cells that line the lobules (milk-producing glands) and has spread into surrounding breast tissue.
Inflammatory breast cancer is when the cancer cells block the smallest lymph channels (part of the lymphatic system) in the breast, which are needed to drain excess tissue fluid away from the body tissues and fluids. When they are blocked, they can't function properly, and this causes skin to become red and inflamed.
Paget's disease of the breast, or nipple, is a sign there could be breast cancer in the tissue behind the nipple, which causes eczema-like symptoms to the skin of the nipple and area of darker skin surrounding it.
If breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body, which usually happens through the blood or the axillary lymph nodes (small lymphatic glands that filter bacteria and cells from the mammary gland), this is known as secondary, or metastatic.
For more information visit the NHS website and Cancer Research UK website on breast cancer types.
Or see our useful guide on how to check for breast cancer symptoms and detect the condition early.
Watch: Anxious about mammograms? This device may help you self-check for breast cancer
