Breast cancer stages are used by medical
professionals to provide a breast cancer prognosis to
their patients. The higher the breast cancer stage the
lower the probability of survival. Breast cancer stages
are described on a 5 year survival rate table. For
example, the 0 stage would be 100% whereas the IV stage
would only be 20%. Breast cancer stages indicate how far
cancer has spread within the breast, to nearby tissues,
and to other organs. This information is obtained from
the lymph node biopsy and other tests such as blood
tests, bone scans , and X-rays .
Breast cancer stages are
currently defined as: Stage 0, I, II, IIA, IIB, IIIA, IIIB,
IIIC, and IV.
According to the BreastCancer.org, the stages are described as
follows:
Stage 0 is used to describe non-invasive breast
cancers, such as DCIS and LCIS. In stage 0,
there is no evidence of cancer cells or non-cancerous
abnormal cells breaking out of the part of the breast in
which they started, or of getting through to or invading
neighboring normal tissue.
Stage I describes invasive breast cancer (cancer
cells are breaking through to or invading neighboring
normal tissue) in which the tumor measures up to 2
centimeters and no lymph nodes are involved
Stage II is divided into subcategories known as
IIA and IIB.
Stage
IIA describes invasive breast cancer in
which no tumor can be found in the breast, but cancer cells are
found in the axillary lymph nodes (the lymph nodes under the
arm), or
-
the tumor measures 2 centimeters or less and
has spread to the axillary lymph nodes,
OR
-
the tumor is larger than 2 centimeters but
not larger than 5 centimeters and has not spread to
the axillary lymph nodes
Stage
IIB describes invasive breast cancer in which
the tumor is larger than 2 but no larger than 5 centimeters and
has spread to the axillary lymph nodes, or the tumor is larger than 5
centimeters but has not spread to the axillary lymph
nodes
Stage III is divided into subcategories known as
IIIA, IIIB, and IIIC.
Stage
IIIA describes invasive breast cancer in which
either:
-
no tumor is found in the breast. Cancer is
found in axillary lymph nodes that are clumped
together or sticking to other structures, or cancer
may have spread to lymph nodes near the breastbone,
OR
-
the tumor is 5 centimeters or smaller and
has spread to axillary lymph nodes that are clumped
together or sticking to other structures,
OR
-
the tumor is larger than 5 centimeters and
has spread to axillary lymph nodes that are clumped
together or sticking to other structures
Stage
IIIB describes invasive breast cancer in
which:
-
the tumor may be any size and has spread to
the chest wall and/or skin of the breast
AND
-
may have spread to axillary lymph nodes that
are clumped together or sticking to other structures,
or cancer may have spread to lymph nodes near the
breastbone
-
Inflammatory breast cancer is considered at
least stage IIIB.
Stage
IIIC describes invasive breast
cancer in which:
-
there may be no sign of cancer in the breast
or, if there is a tumor, it may be any size and may
have spread to the chest wall and/or the skin of the
breast, AND
-
the cancer has spread to lymph nodes above
or below the collarbone, AND
-
the cancer may have spread to axillary lymph
nodes or to lymph nodes near the
breastbone
Stage
IV describes invasive breast cancer in which the cancer
has spread to other organs of the body -- usually the lungs,
liver, bone, or brain.
The type of
treatments for breast
cancer will be determined by the oncologist physician
based on the stage of breast cancer.
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