Breast Cancer Stages
A cancer's stage refers to how much the cancer has grown and where it has spread. Tumors can be noninvasive or invasive.
- Noninvasive breast cancer, or carcinoma in situ, is a tumor that has not spread beyond the ducts or the lobules, depending on where it started.
- An invasive tumor has spread beyond where it began, and there are 3 different stages of invasiveness:
- Localized stage: The tumor is still only within the breast
- Regional stage: The tumor has spread to the tissue surrounding the breast or there are cancer cells within nearby lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are small masses of tissues found throughout the body that are involved in fighting infection. The more lymph nodes with cancer, the more serious the cancer may be
- Distant (advanced/metastatic) stage: The tumor has spread away from the breast to other tissues in the body (eg, lung, liver, bone, or brain)
TNM staging system
Staging systems help describe the cancer, so that the doctor can decide what treatments are appropriate such as whether the tumor is operable (meaning that surgery should be done to remove the tumor).
The TNM (Tumor, Nodal, Metastasis) Staging System is the most common method of staging breast cancer. According to the TNM system, breast cancer is grouped into 5 stages from 0 to IV based on how large the tumor is, the tumor's nodal status (whether or not cancer cells have spread to the lymph nodes), and whether the tumor has spread (metastasis).The terms "early" and "advanced" are sometimes used to describe tumors, but these terms may be used differently by different doctors. Generally, "early" or "early-stage" breast cancer means that the cancer has not spread beyond the breast or lymph nodes under the arm (known as axillary lymph nodes).Stage 0,I,and II, as well as some stage III cancers, are usually considered early-stage. Ask your doctor or nurse for more information about the stage of your tumor. Here are brief descriptions of each stage of breast cancer, according to the TNM system.
Breast Cancer Stages 0, I, II, III and IV
Stage 0 is very early breast cancer. The cancer cells are still only in the duct or lobule where they began.
Stage I Breast Cancer
The tumor is small, 0 to 2 cm (about 1 inch) wide, with negative lymph nodes (no cancer cells in the lymph nodes). The tumor has not spread outside of the breast.
Stage II Breast Cancer
- The tumor is 2 to 5 cm (about 1 to 2 inches) wide, and lymph nodes under the arm on the same side of the body as the tumor may be positive (meaning that the lymph nodes have cancer cells in them) or
- The tumor is more than 5 cm (about 2 inches) wide, but the lymph nodes are still negative
Stage III Breast Cancer (locally advanced cancer)
- The tumor has grown larger than 5 cm wide, and cancer has spread to lymph nodes under the arm
- or
- The tumor is any size, but more lymph nodes are now positive. These nodes may be under the arm and attached to one another or in the surrounding tissue and enlarged
- or
- The tumor is any size and has spread to the chest wall or the skin
- or
- The tumor is any size and there are positive lymph nodes in the chest above or just below the collar bone
Stage IV Breast Cancer
The breast cancer is metastatic: the cancer has spread to somewhere else in the body.
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