Our providers see patients in the Maggie Daley Center for Women’s Cancer Care within Prentice Women’s Hospital, the only dedicated women’s hospital in the Chicagoland area.
Cancer begins when normal cells in the breast begin to change and grow uncontrollably, forming a mass called a tumor. A tumor can be benign (noncancerous) or malignant (cancerous, meaning it can spread to other parts of the body).
We treat several types of breast cancer, including inflammatory breast cancer, male breast cancer, ductal carcinoma in situ and metastatic breast cancer. The most common type of breast cancer is ductal carcinoma, which begins in the cells of the ducts. Breast cancer can also begin in the cells of the lobules and in other tissues in the breast. Ductal carcinoma in situ is a condition in which abnormal cells are found in the lining of the ducts but they haven't spread outside the duct. Breast cancer that has spread from where it began in the ducts or lobules to surrounding tissue is called invasive breast cancer. In inflammatory breast cancer, the breast looks red and swollen and feels warm because the cancer cells block the lymph vessels in the skin.
