Invasive ductal carcinoma with metastatic lymph nodes

Invasive breast cancer occurs when abnormal cells from inside the milk ducts or lobules break out into nearby breast tissue.

Cancer cells can travel from the breast to other parts of the body through the bloodstream or the lymphatic system. They may travel early in the process when a tumor is small or later when a tumor is large.

If breast cancer spreads, the lymph nodes in the underarm area (the axillary lymph nodes) are the first place it’s likely to go.

Learn about treatment for invasive breast cancer.

Metastatic breast cancer

Metastatic breast cancer (also called stage IV or advanced breast cancer) is invasive breast cancer that has spread beyond the breast and nearby lymph nodes to other parts of the body (most often the bones, lungs, liver or brain).

Metastatic breast cancer is not a specific type of breast cancer, it’s the most advanced stage of breast cancer.

Learn about treatment for metastatic breast cancer.  

Most common invasive breast cancers

• Invasive ductal carcinoma (also called infiltrating ductal carcinoma) begins in the milk ducts and is the most common invasive breast cancer.
• Invasive lobular carcinoma begins in the lobules and is the second most common invasive breast cancer.

Less common invasive breast cancers

• Inflammatory breast cancer is an aggressive form of locally advanced breast cancer. It’s called inflammatory breast cancer because the main warning signs are swelling (inflammation) and redness in the breast. With inflammatory breast cancer, warning signs tend to arise within weeks or months. With other breast cancers, warning signs may not occur for years.
• Paget disease of the breast (Paget disease of the nipple) is a carcinoma in situ in the skin of the nipple or in the skin closely surrounding the nipple. It’s usually found with an underlying breast cancer.
• Metaplastic breast cancers tend to be larger and have a higher tumor grade than more common breast cancers. Metaplastic breast cancers can be hard to diagnose because the tumor cells can look very different from the tumor cells of more common breast cancers.

Prognosis for invasive breast cancer

The prognosis (chance of survival) after invasive breast cancer depend on each person’s diagnosis and treatment.

For example, people diagnosed with early breast cancers have a better prognosis than those diagnosed with more advanced breast cancers.

Learn more about factors that affect prognosis.

Treatment for early and locally advanced invasive breast cancers

Treatment for early and locally advanced invasive breast cancer includes some combination of surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, HER2-targeted therapy and/or other drug therapies.

The specific treatments depend on the cancer stage and the characteristics of the tumor, such as hormone receptor status and HER2 status.

Learn more about treatment for early and locally advanced breast cancers.

Learn about treatment for metastatic breast cancer.

Learn more about breast cancer stage.

Learn more about factors that affect breast cancer treatment.

Updated 07/20/22

Invasive ductal carcinoma stages provide physicians with a uniform way to describe how far a patient’s cancer may have spread beyond its original location in a milk duct. This information can be helpful when evaluating treatment options, but it is not a prognostic indicator in and of itself. Many factors can influence a patient’s outcome, so the best source of information for understanding a breast cancer prognosis is always a physician who is familiar with the patient’s case.

What is invasive ductal carcinoma?

Invasive ductal carcinoma (also referred to as infiltrating ductal carcinoma) is the most common type of breast cancer, accounting for approximately 80% of the total number of cases. Invasive ductal carcinoma occurs when cancerous cells form in a duct that carries milk from a lobule (a gland in the breast that produces milk) to the nipple, and then spreads to tissue outside the duct.

What are the stages of invasive ductal carcinoma?

Invasive ductal carcinoma is usually described through a numeric scale ranging from 1 (the earliest stage) to 4 (the most advanced stage). Specifically, the invasive ductal carcinoma stages are:

• Stage 1 – A breast tumor is smaller than 2 centimeters in diameter and the cancer has not spread beyond the breast.
• Stage 2 – A breast tumor measures 2 to 4 centimeters in diameter or cancerous cells have spread to the lymph nodes in the underarm area.
• Stage 3 – More extensive cancer is found, but it is confined to the breast, surrounding tissues and lymph nodes.
• Stage 4 – The breast cancer has metastasized to lymph nodes beyond the underarm area or to distant sites, such as the lungs, liver, bones or brain.

What is the survival rate for invasive ductal carcinoma?

The invasive ductal carcinoma survival rate varies depending on the stage the patient is at. For example:

• If invasive ductal carcinoma has not spread beyond the breast, the five-year survival rate is approximately 99%.
• If the cancer has spread to nearby structures or lymph nodes, the five-year survival rate is approximately 86%.
• If the cancer has spread to a distant area of the body, the five-year survival rate is approximately 27%.

When considering these numbers, it’s important to remember that they are just general benchmarks and should not be used to predict a specific person’s chances of survival.

Invasive ductal carcinoma treatment at Moffitt

In the Don & Erika Wallace Comprehensive Breast Program at Moffitt Cancer Center, our multispecialty tumor board reviews breast cancer cases during a weekly meeting, meaning our patients receive highly individualized treatment based on multiple expert opinions. We also offer comprehensive screening, diagnostic and supportive care services without the need for referrals.

If you’d like to learn more about invasive ductal carcinoma stages and treatment options, call 1-888-663-3488 or complete a new patient registration form online. At Moffitt, we provide every new patient with rapid access to a cancer expert within one day, a turnaround faster than that offered by any other cancer hospital in the country.

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Can invasive ductal carcinoma spread to lymph nodes?

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What stage is metastatic ductal carcinoma?