Breast Cancer Staging
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Staging for Breast Cancer
Making an educated treatment decision begins by learning the stage, or progression, of the disease. Using the results from your diagnostic tests, your doctors at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) will determine the location, type, size, and stage (extent) of the breast cancer. This information will help your CTCA care team determine which treatments will be best suited to you.
Breast cancer is typically categorized by one of four stages:
Stage 0 – Cancer cells have not spread beyond the breast duct. Stage 0 breast cancer is sometimes called non-invasive carcinoma or carcinoma in situ.
Stage I - Cancer resides solely within the breast and spans up to two centimeters.
Stage IIA – There are three ways this phase may manifest itself:
- There is no tumor found in the breast, but cancer is found in the underarm lymph nodes.
- Cancer in the breast spans two centimeters, and also encompasses nearby lymph nodes.
- Cancer located within the breast is larger than two centimeters and smaller than five centimeters, but does not affect the lymph nodes.
Stage IIB – This stage may include one of the following:
- The tumor is between two and five centimeters and has spread to underarm lymph nodes
- The tumor is larger than five centimeters, but lymph nodes remain unharmed.
Stage IIIA – This stage is defined by either of the following:
- The tumor measures larger than five centimeters.
- There is significant involvement of lymph nodes. The nodes clump together or stick to one another or surrounding tissue.
Stage IIIB – This stage is defined by either of the following
- Cancer has spread to tissues near the breast, such as the skin or chest wall. The tumor may range in size.
- Underarm lymph nodes or those beneath the breast under the ribs may be affected.
Stage IIIC – Cancer may or may not be in the breast and may have spread to the breast skin or chest wall. Cancer permeates lymph nodes around the collarbone and may also be in the lymph nodes surrounding the breast bone.
Stage IV – Cancerous has spread beyond the breast to other parts of the body near to or distant from the breast. Also called metastatic breast cancer.
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