How Does Breast Cancer Spread or Metastasize?

Breast cancer can spread to your lymph nodes via the lymphatic circulation system. In later stages, it may spread to other organs, such as your brain or lungs.

Doctors refer to the spread of breast cancer to other locations in the body as “metastasizing.” There are various methods for cancer to spread in the body. Breast cancer can spread lymphatically from the breast to the chest wall below. Cancer cells take root and start to develop in this new location.

Lymphangitis spread occurs when cancer spreads via the lymphatic system. Breast cancer frequently affects adjacent lymph nodes, allowing the disease to spread to other regions of the body via the lymphatic system.

Breast cancer is terrible enough without the dread that it will spread to other regions of the body. Metastasis refers to the spread of cancer. Every year, over 250,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer, with approximately 40,000 dying as a result. When breast cancer is detected early, many women are able to live cancer-free.

How Does Breast Cancer Spread?

1. Through The Lymph

Breast tumor cells can detach from the tumor in the breast and enter microscopic lymphatic channels found throughout the breasts. From there, they can travel through lymphatic systems to lymph nodes and beyond. Lymphatic spread plays a crucial role in the diagnosis and staging of breast cancer. If a tumor has migrated from the breast to a sentinel lymph node (assuming the malignancy is lymph node positive), it has effectively “declared” its intention to expand beyond the breast. When people read their pathology findings, they may become quite confused. If cancer has spread to neighboring lymph nodes, the report may read “metastatic to lymph nodes.” This does not imply that you have metastatic breast cancer; some early-stage 1B breast tumors may have lymph node involvement.

2. Via Close Tissues

Breast cancer can potentially spread to surrounding tissues such as the chest wall or ribs through invasion. Cancer cells vary from normal cells in this way. Benign tumors can expand and strain on adjacent tissues, potentially causing injury. However, malignant tumors do penetrate these tissues. In reality, the name “cancer” is derived from a Greek word meaning “crab” to describe the crab-like spread of malignancies into surrounding tissues.

3. Through The Bloodstream

Many small blood arteries exist throughout the breast, much as microscopic lymph vessels do. Cancer cells may enter these small blood veins and travel via the circulation to distant sites, particularly the lungs and liver, which have high blood flow.

Summary

Cancer cells spread into or invade neighboring healthy tissue.
They pass through the walls of neighboring lymph nodes or blood arteries.
Cancer cells move via the lymphatic system and bloodstream to other parts of the body.
They invade blood artery walls and spread to neighboring healthy tissue at the new place.
They develop in the new tissue until a tiny tumor emerges.
Form new blood vessels to provide a blood supply to the tumor, allowing it to continue growing.