10/06/2022
What are the stages of breast cancer?
The size of the tumor, whether it has migrated to lymph nodes, whether it has gone to distant parts of the body, and what biomarkers it possesses are all used to describe how extensive the breast cancer is.
Staging can be done either before or after surgery on a patient. The clinical stage is performed prior to surgery, while the pathologic stage is performed after surgery. Doctors utilize diagnostic tests to determine the stage of cancer, therefore staging may not be complete until all tests are completed. Knowing the stage can assist the doctor propose the best treatment for the patient and determine the prognosis, or possibility of recovery.
This is the method used to describe the various steps in the following sections.
The majority of patients are eager to understand their cancer stage. If surgery is your initial treatment for cancer, your doctor will usually confirm your cancer stage when the testing following surgery is completed, which is normally 5 to 7 days after surgery. The stage of the cancer is primarily determined clinically when systemic treatment is provided before surgery, which is often drugs and is known as neoadjuvant therapy. Stage I to stage IIA cancer is referred to as "early stage," whereas stage IIB to stage III cancer is referred to as "locally advanced."
Stage 0: Stage zero (0) describes disease that is only in the ducts of the breast tissue and has not spread to the surrounding tissue of the breast. It is also called non-invasive or in situ cancer (Tis, N0, M0).
Stage IA: The tumor is small, invasive, and has not spread to the lymph nodes (T1, N0, M0).
Stage IB: Cancer has spread to the lymph nodes and the cancer in the lymph node is larger than 0.2 mm but less than 2 mm in size. There is either no evidence of a tumor in the breast or the tumor in the breast is 20 mm or smaller (T0 or T1, N1mi, M0).
Stage IIA: Any 1 of these conditions:
There is no evidence of a tumor in the breast, but the cancer has spread to 1 to 3 axillary lymph nodes. It has not spread to distant parts of the body (T0, N1, M0).
The tumor is 20 mm or smaller and has spread to 1 to 3 axillary lymph nodes (T1, N1, M0).
The tumor is larger than 20 mm but not larger than 50 mm and has not spread to the axillary lymph nodes (T2, N0, M0).
Stage IIB: Either of these conditions:
The tumor is larger than 20 mm but not larger than 50 mm and has spread to 1 to 3 axillary lymph nodes (T2, N1, M0).
The tumor is larger than 50 mm but has not spread to the axillary lymph nodes (T3, N0, M0).
Stage IIIA: The tumor of any size has spread to 4 to 9 axillary lymph nodes or to internal mammary lymph nodes. It has not spread to other parts of the body (T0, T1, T2, or T3; N2; M0). Stage IIIA may also be a tumor larger than 50 mm that has spread to 1 to 3 axillary lymph nodes (T3, N1, M0).
Stage IIIB: The tumor has spread to the chest wall or caused swelling or ulceration of the breast, or it is diagnosed as inflammatory breast cancer. It may or may not have spread to up to 9 axillary or internal mammary lymph nodes. It has not spread to other parts of the body (T4; N0, N1, or N2; M0).
Stage IIIC: A tumor of any size that has spread to 10 or more axillary lymph nodes, the internal mammary lymph nodes, and/or the lymph nodes under the collarbone. It has not spread to other parts of the body (any T, N3, M0).
Stage IV (metastatic): The tumor can be any size and has spread to other organs, such as the bones, lungs, brain, liver, distant lymph nodes, or chest wall (any T, any N, M1). Metastatic cancer found when the cancer is first diagnosed occurs about 6% of the time. This may be called de novo metastatic breast cancer. Most commonly, metastatic breast cancer is found after a previous diagnosis of early stage breast cancer. Learn more about metastatic breast cancer.
Design and Infographic by: Sarah M. del Castillo
References:
https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/breast-cancer/stages
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