Staging breast cancer is a part of the diagnosis process, helping patients and doctors understand the extent of the cancer’s spread.
How Breast Cancer is Staged
There are a number of tests a physician might want to perform after a breast biopsy in order to determine which breast cancer treatment might be most helpful. Raising breast cancer awareness in this way will help to educate the patient.
- Blood tests
- Mammogram
- Additional biopsies of lymph nodes
- Chest x-ray
- Bone scan
- CT scan
- Breast MRI
- PET scan
All of these tests may not be necessary, but they can help a doctor find out just how far a case of breast cancer may have spread.
Stages of Breast Cancer
- Stage 0 - This stage of breast cancer means that none of the cancerous cells are anywhere but in the lump which was removed or is going to be removed.
- Stage I - The tumor is no more than 2 centimeters in diameter, the cells have spread to surrounding tissues, but not to the lymph nodes.
- Stage IIA - No tumor is in the breast tissue, but there are cancerous cells in other areas of the lymph nodes OR tumor in the breast is 2 centimeters or less and has spread to the lymph nodes OR the breast tumor is more than 2 centimeters, but less than 5 centimeters and has not spread to the lymph nodes.
- Stage IIB - The tumor is larger than 2 centimeters and less than 5 centimeters and has spread to the lymph nodes OR the tumor is larger than 5 centimeters, but has not spread to the lymph nodes.
- Stage IIIA - No tumors in the breast, but have spread to chest wall in small clumps and in lymph nodes OR breast tumor is less than 5 centimeters, with clumps of cells in surrounding areas OR cancer spread to lymph nodes near chest bone.
- Stage IIIB - Breast tumor is less than 5 centimeters and has spread to lymph nodes, with cells clumping together OR tumor is larger than 5 centimeters and spread of cancer cells in clumps, sticking to other structures.
- Stage IIIC - No tumor or tumor of any size which has infiltrated the chest OR cancer spread to lymph nodes of collarbone area OR cancer has spread to other lymph nodes
- Stage IV - Cancer has spread to other organs and systems in the body.