Breast cancer is the most common cancer amongst Indian women. Majority of these cancers arise from the 15-20 ducts present in the breast. These cancers can be of two types, invasive and non invasive. These terms are often mentioned in the pathology report after the breast cancer surgeon does the biopsy. This simple patient information video explains these terms and their practical implications.
If the patient is diagnosed with an invasive cancer, then the patient often requires chemotherapy, whereas, if the patient has non invasive cancer (ductal carcinoma in situ), chemotherapy can be avoided.
To diagnose the type of breast cancer, a breast biopsy is required (tru-cut or core needle biopsy). FNAC (fine needle aspiration cytology) is not useful in distinguishing between the two types of cancers.
This information has been provided by Dr. Rohan Khandelwal, Breast Cancer Surgeon at W Pratiksha Hospital, Gurgaon & Delhi NCR.
