Knowing more about breast cancer can save ones life.
If you pay attention to your body and you recognize any sign or symptom that
must be controlled by your doctor, you will have a better chance for a cure.
Once you have diagnosed breast cancer, you get the necessary information to face
the disease appropriately, in order to fight this battle with the beast weapons:
good professionals, accurate tests, right information.
There is a stage system that has been created to organize the variety
of factors and special features of cancer into some categories. These particular
characteristics may include tumor size, whether lymph nodes are involved, and
whether the cancer has spread beyond the breast.
In addition, the purposes of this established staging system is to
really understand patients? prognosis, decisions on the appropriate treatment
and therapies and offer a common method to describe the extent of breast cancer
for healthcare professionals.
Prognosis is related to results of staging. Additionally, staging is
also used to offer patients the different treatment options both in clinical
trials and clinical practice. Therefore, stages have been classified as
follows:
TX: Primary tumor cannot be evaluated. T0: No evidence of tumor. Tis:
Carcinoma in situ, no invasion T1: Tumor is 2 cm or less T2: Tumor is more than
2 cm but not more than 5 cm T3: Tumor is more than 5 cm T4: Tumor of any size
growing into the chest wall or skin, or inflammatory breast cancer.
NX: Nearby lymph nodes cannot be assessed N0: Cancer has not spread
to regional lymph nodes. N1: Cancer has spread to 1 to 3 axillary or one
internal mammary lymph node N2: Cancer has spread to 4 to 9 axillary lymph nodes
or multiple internal mammary lymph nodes N3: One of the following applies:
Cancer has spread to 10 or more axillary lymph nodes, or Cancer has spread to
the lymph nodes under the clavicle (collar bone), or Cancer has spread to the
lymph nodes above the clavicle, or Cancer involves axillary lymph nodes and has
enlarged the internal mammary lymph nodes, or Cancer involves 4 or more axillary
lymph nodes, and tiny amounts of cancer are found in internal mammary lymph
nodes on sentinel lymph node biopsy.
MX: Presence of distant spread (metastasis) cannot be assessed. M0:
No distant spread. M1: Spread to distant organs, not including the
supraclavicular lymph node, has occurred.
Summary of stages:
Stage 0 - Carcinoma in situ
(DCIS)
Stage I - Tumor (T) does not involve axillary lymph nodes
(N).
Stage IIA - T 2-5 cm, N negative, or T <2 cm and N
positive.
Stage IIB - T > 5 cm, N negative, or T 2-5 cm and N
positive (< 4 axillary nodes).
Stage IIIA - T > 5 cm, N
positive, or T 2-5 cm with 4 or more axillary nodes
Stage IIIB - T has
penetrated chest wall or skin, and may have spread to < 10 axillary
N Stage IIIC - T has > 10 axillary N, 1 or more supraclavicular or
infraclavicular N, or internal mammary N.
Stage IV - Distant metastasis
(M)
In the US, many breast cancer cases are early stage cases because of
prevention and detection methods. Treatments applied to early stage cases are
very different from late-stage therapies. Therefore, follow your annual health
control schedule to have the opportunity to enjoy a healthy
life.
