Breast Cancer - Child

Definition of breast cancer:

Cancer that forms in tissues of the breast. The most common type of breast cancer is ductal carcinoma, which begins in the lining of the milk ducts (thin tubes that carry milk from the lobules of the breast to the nipple). Another type of breast cancer is lobular carcinoma, which begins in the lobules (milk glands) of the breast. Invasive breast cancer is breast cancer that has spread from where it began in the breast ducts or lobules to surrounding normal tissue. Breast cancer occurs in both men and women, although male breast cancer is rare.

Breast Cancer

Most breast tumors in children are fibroadenomas, which are benign (not cancer). Rarely, these tumors become large phyllodes tumors (cancer) and begin to grow quickly. If a benign tumor begins to grow quickly, a fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy or an excisional biopsy will be done. The tissues removed during the biopsy will be viewed under a microscope by a pathologist to check for signs of cancer.

Breast cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the breast. Breast cancer may occur in both male and female children.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among teenage and young adult women aged 15 to 39 years. Breast cancer in this age group is more aggressive and more difficult to treat successfully than in older women. Treatments for younger and older women are similar. Also, care for younger patients with breast cancer includes checking for familial cancer syndromes and considering possible fertility issues when choosing treatment.

Risk Factors, Symptoms, and Diagnostic and Staging Tests

The risk of breast cancer is increased by the following:

• Having a personal history of cancer that may spread to the breast, such as leukemia, rhabdomyosarcoma, soft tissue sarcoma, or lymphoma.
• Past treatment for another cancer, such as Hodgkin lymphoma, with radiation therapy to the breast or chest.

Breast cancer may cause any of the following signs and symptoms. Check with your child’s doctor if you see any of the following problems in your child:

• A lump or thickening in or near the breast or in the underarm area.
• A change in the size or shape of the breast.
• A dimple or puckering in the skin of the breast.
• A nipple turned inward into the breast.
• Scaly, red, or swollen skin on the breast, nipple, or areola (the dark area of skin that is around the nipple).
• Dimples in the breast that look like the skin of an orange, called peau d’orange.

Other conditions that are not breast cancer may cause these same symptoms.

Tests to diagnose and stage breast cancer may include the following:

• Physical exam and history.
• MRI.
• Ultrasound.
• PET scan.
• Blood chemistry studies.
• X-ray of the chest.
• Biopsy.

Another test used to diagnose breast cancer is the mammogram (an x-ray of the breast). When treatment for another cancer included radiation therapy to the breast or chest, it is important to have a mammogram and MRI of the breast to check for breast cancer beginning at age 25, or 10 years after finishing radiation therapy, whichever is later.

Treatment

Treatment of breast cancer in children may include the following:

• Watchful waiting, for benign tumors.
• Surgery to remove the tumor, but not the whole breast. Radiation therapy may also be given.