Stages of Breast Cancer
The stage of your cancer is based on: the size of the tumor, whether the cancer is invasive or noninvasive, whether lymph nodes are involved, and whether it has spread beyond the breast and nodes. When you are going through this phase of your diagnosis, it is important to remember that information about your cancer comes at different times and this period can be the most stressful time of the cancer experience. Things settle down once you have the complete picture of your cancer, know what the size of the tumor is, what stage it's in, whether it is invasive or not, and whether your lymph nodes are involved. Then you can move forward in your treatment.
Stage 0. Stage 0 means that there is no invasion of the cancer cells into the surrounding tissue. DCIS and LCIS are examples of Stage 0.
Stage I. Stage I describes invasive breast cancer, in which the cells are breaking through to surrounding tissue and:
The tumor is 2 centimeters or less in greatest dimension AND
No lymph nodes are involved.
Stage II. Stage II is divided into subgroups known as IIA and IIB.
Stage IIA describes invasive breast cancer in which:
No tumor is found in the breast, but cancer cells are found in the axillary lymph nodes (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 less 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 less 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. 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 the axillary nodes that are clumped together or sticking to other structures or the cancer has spread to the axillary 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
The tumor 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.
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 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. Stage IV describes invasive breast cancer that has spread to other organs of the body, usually the lungs, liver, bone, or brain. Stage IV breast cancer is called metastatic breast cancer.
It is important to remember that women often confuse stage and grade. If you review your pathology report, don't confuse grade (the pathologist's description of the cancer) with stage (the anatomic extent of the cancer).
Symptoms that occur in metastatic breast cancer relate to the organ that is affected. With metastasis to the lung, it is common to experience shortness of breath, or bone pain, which may indicate possible metastasis to the bones. Loss of appetite and weight loss suggest metastasis to the liver. It is important to note that the symptoms alone do not indicate metastasis, but will lead to additional testing to confirm the possibility of breast cancer metastasis to that organ. If you have Stage IV breast cancer, people will often treat you as if you are near death, often diminishing any hope and the pursuit of breast cancer treatment. A recent study indicated that 20 percent of women with metastatic breast cancer live five years or longer. The study also recognized that each breast cancer is unique and varies in its course of action. Many drugs are being developed and used for metastatic breast cancer treatment. It is always helpful to see yourself on the positive side of breast cancer survival, no matter what the statistics are.
