What are aggressive breast cancers?
Some breast cancers are classified as rather aggressive, either because they respond poorly to therapy or because they have a tendency to metastasize after a short time. However, the exact classification of breast cancers is very complicated and is based on various prognostically relevant factors. Therefore, general statements should only be made very cautiously.
Above all, tumours that show a high degree of degeneration (“grading”) are described as “aggressive”. This means that the cells of the tumour hardly look like the original tissue from which they originated. Such tumours are classified as G3 or G4.
An example of such an aggressive tumour is the poorly differentiated, invasive, ductal carcinoma, which has a degree of degeneration of G3 or G4. However, other tumour types can also be considered aggressive if they have a high degree of degeneration or other prognostically unfavourable factors. An important criterion is the Her2 status of the tumour.
Breast cancers that are positive for the Her2 receptor behave more aggressively than those that are negative for this receptor. Another example of a rather aggressive breast cancer is the inflammatory breast carcinoma. This tumour has a tendency to metastasise rapidly and attack the lymph vessels of the skin.
Mostly, these are ductal tumours, but lobular carcinomas are also possible. Inflammatory breast carcinoma shows a 5-year survival rate of less than 5% if not treated. Even with optimal therapy, only every second woman is still alive after 5 years.
