Stages of Breast Cancer - How to Determine them

11 Apr

Posted by Admin as Uncategorized

When breast cancer is diagnosed, tests will be done to find out if the cancer has spread from the breast to other parts of the body. This is called staging, and is an important step toward planning a breast cancer treatment program.

The exact causes of breast cancer is unknown. Factors that can increase a woman’s risk include heredity, early puberty, late childbearing, obesity, and lifestyle factors such as heavy alcohol consumption and smoking. The biggest risk factor for breast cancer is age — just growing older. Most breast cancers occur in women over the age of 50, and women over 60 are at the highest risk. So it is important to know about breast cancer prevention.

Stages of Breast Cancer

Stage 0

This stage is also called noninvasive carcinoma or carcinoma in situ.
Treatment Options for Lobular Carcinoma in Situ. These are abnormal cells that pose a long-term risk for invasive cancer. (1) Careful monitoring with or without preventive use of tamoxifen or other selective estrogen-receptor modulators (SERMs). (2) In selected cases, consideration of removal of both breasts, since if the cancer does develop, it tends to do so in both breasts or to be invasive. In one study, chance for invasive cancer over a 25-year period was 25%.

Stage I

Early stage of invasive breast cancer. The tumor is no more than 2 centimeters across. Cancer cells have not spread beyond the breast.

Stage II

This stage describes invasive breast cancer in which:

• The tumor measures at least two centimeters, but not more than five centimeters, OR

• Cancer has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm on the same side as the breast cancer. Affected lymph nodes have not yet stuck to one another or to the surrounding tissues, a sign that the cancer has not yet advanced to stage III. (The tumor in the breast can be any size.)

In stage IIIA, the tumor is 5 cm or greater in diameter (approximately 2 inches or greater); or the tumor may be of any size where cancer cells have grown extensively into axillary (underarm) lymph nodes

The final of the breast cancer stages, Stage IV, is a tumor that has spread beyond the breast, underarm or internal mammary lymph nodes and may have spread to the lymph nodes located at the base of the neck, the lungs, liver, bone, or brain.

Other terms are used when talking about breast cancer stages. The doctor may mention early stage, later stage, or advanced stage. Stage 0, I, and II are considered early stages. If your breast cancer is caught in an earlier stage, your survival rate should be much better. Stage II (when lymph nodes are involved) and Stage IIIA and Stage IIIB are considered later stages. These may require more aggressive treatment as well advanced stage, Stage IV.

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