The Different Stages of Breast Cancer

Your doctor has informed you that you have breast cancer. The first thing you want to know is ‘how long’. That is not what he will tell you. He will tell you what stage of breast cancer your body is at. This to him is a more important statistic because it will determine how to treat the cancer.

To determine the stage of breast cancer, various tests are done to pinpoint the cancel. They use a bone scan, a CT scan, and if they need it a lymph node biopsy. Your doctor will decide which test he needs depending on the size of the cancer found.

STAGE 0 – When abnormal cells are in the lining of a breast duct, but have not invaded nearby breast tissue, or spread outside of the duct. These cells are not yet cancerous but have been known to turn into invasive breast cancer if not treated.

STAGE I – An early stage of invasive breast cancer. Cancer cells have opened the breast duct and moved beyond to invade breast tissue, but has not yet spread to the breast. No more than 2 centimeters (3/4 of an inch) across.

STAGE II – This stage has four different possibilities which average out to the tumor is between 2 and 5 centimeters (3/4 to 2”) across and spread to the lymph nodes under the arm OR over 5 centimeters or over 2” but NOT in the lymph nodes.

STAGE III – Is locally advanced cancer. It is divided into A, B, & C
A – Over 5 centimeters and has spread to underarm lymph nodes
B – A tumor of any size that has grown into the chest wall and may have spread to underarm lymph nodes
C – Inflammatory breast cancer – very rare and the breast will appear red and swollen.

STAGE IV – Distant Metastatic cancer, it has spread to other parts of the body, such as the bones or liver.

Each stage of breast cancer shown has a different form of treatment. Only a specialist can determine what treatment would be used to treat you because you are different than everyone else.