skip-to-content-text
skip-navigation-text

Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women, accounting for about one in three (30 percent) of all diagnoses (source: "The Numbers of Cancer in Italy 2023,"AIOM). More than 55,000 women in Italy face this disease each year. The average risk per woman of developing breast cancer, in the absence of special conditions such as genetic mutations, is 10 to 12%.

Looking for Breast Cancer Care?

Related services:

Breast cancer care is available at the following UPMC locations:

On this page

What Is Breast Cancer?

There are different types of breast cancer, each characterized by the origin of cancer cells and the potential for spread. Understanding these differences is crucial for early diagnosis and targeted treatment. Let's look at the main types.

Invasive and Non-Invasive Breast Cancer

Invasive breast cancer has the ability to spread (or metastasize) throughout the breast and other parts of the body. Non-invasive breast cancer (also known as carcinoma in situ) does not spread and is sometimes considered a precancerous condition.

Common Invasive Types

  • Invasive ductal carcinoma – affects the inner lining of the milk ducts and is the most common type, accounting for about 80% of diagnoses in women and 90% in men.
  • Invasive lobular carcinoma – originates from the milk-producing glands, and symptoms often include a fullness and thickening of the breast rather than a lump.

Common Non-invasive Types

  • Ductal carcinoma in situ – is the most common type of non-invasive breast cancer, it remains within the milk ducts and may precede invasive ductal carcinoma.
  • Lobular carcinoma in situ – is a non-invasive condition, but at high risk of developing invasive breast cancer.

Less Common Types

  • Paget's disease of the nipple – starts in the nipple ducts and spreads to the surrounding skin, causing redness and irritation.
  • Inflammatory breast carcinoma – is an aggressive type in which the breast swells and reddens, often mistaken for other, less serious breast diseases.
  • Angiosarcoma of the breast – originates in the cells of blood or lymphatic vessels, sometimes after radiation treatments.

Back to top

What Are the Symptoms of Breast Cancer?

The symptoms of breast cancer can vary, but the most common is the presence of a lump or mass. Other signs to watch for include:

  • Thickening of the breast tissue
  • Redness or changes in the skin
  • Changes in the shape or size of the breast
  • Skin puckering or an orange peel appearance
  • Itching or pain in the breast
  • Nipple retraction
  • Sudden loss of the nipple without pressure

It is essential to perform regular breast self-exams, and if any suspicions or changes arise, consult a doctor promptly.

Back to top

How Do You Diagnose Breast Cancer?

People can perform the most basic breast cancer screening on their own: a breast self-exam. Done monthly, breast self-exam can reveal small lumps. A yearly clinical breast exam and regularly scheduled mammograms in middle age can often detect breast cancer in its earliest stages.

UPMC Salvator Mundi International Hospital in Rome offers highly specialized breast screenings that offer an accurate and early diagnosis, providing a multidisciplinary team of specialists for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer.

Back to top

How Do You Treat Breast Cancer?

The treatment of breast cancer is based on a personalized approach, tailored to the specific diagnosis of each patient. Treatment options may include:

  • Surgery to remove the tumor
  • Radiation therapy to target cancerous cells
  • Medical oncology, which involves the use of chemotherapy or hormonal therapy to treat cancer spread

The choice of treatment depends on factors such as the type and stage of cancer, as well as the patient's overall health, and is always personalized to achieve the best possible outcomes.

At the UPMC Hillman Cancer Centers in Italy in Rome and Mirabella Eclano it is possible to carry out highly specialized radiotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery treatments, which involve the use of high doses of radiation addressed to the tumor volume with millimeter (stereotactic) precision, saving as much as possible the surrounding healthy organs and minimizing side effects.

Back to top

Reviewed October 2024.