According to medical statistics, breast cancer affects one in eight women during their lives. Breast cancer kills more women than any cancer except lung cancer. Nobody knows why some women get breast cancer. Scientists discovered several risk factors but not all women suffer from breast cancer (even having identified risk factors). So, it is almost impossible to prevent breast cancer BUT nowadays it is possible to detect early stages of breast cancer and treat effectively.
To be able to choose the treatment protocols, doctors classify different cases of breast cancer by stages. Breast cancer stages are usually mentioned as a number on a scale of 0 through IV. The minimum stage is 0 which is describing non-invasive cancers that remain within their original location and the maximum stage is IV which is describing invasive cancers that have spread outside the breast to other parts of the body.
Breast cancer stages
Breast cancer stage is based on several factors:
- Size of the tumor within the breast;
- Whether the cancer is invasive or non-invasive;
- Number of affected lymph nodes (close to the tumor);
- Number of affected underarm lymph nodes (nodes at axillary area);
- Invasion of breast cancer cells to other organs beyond the breast (metastasis in bones, liver, lungs, or brain).
Most correct breast cancer stage is usually identified after surgery and histological detailed analysis of removed tissues. Histological reports include information about whether cancer (tumor) is limited to one area in the breast, or it has spread to healthy tissues inside the breast or to other parts of the body. Special attention is always paid to the cancer cells in lymphatic nodes (existence, volume, spread distances).
Breast cancer stages according to medical protocols
| Stages | Description |
| Stage 0 (called “in situ” – noninvasive) |
there is no evidence of cancer cells breaking out of the part of the breast in which they started, or of getting through to or invading neighboring normal tissue |
| Stage I | the tumor measures up to 2 cm and no lymph nodes are involved |
| Stage IA | the tumor measures up to 2 cm and the cancer cells are not spread outside the breast (no lymph nodes are involved) |
| Stage IB | there is no tumor in the breast – instead, small groups of cancer cells are found in the lymph nodes; or there is a tumor in the breast that is no larger than 2 cm with small groups of cancer cells in the lymph nodes |
| Stage II (invasive) |
the tumor measures between 2 to 5 cm, or the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm on the same side as the breast cancer; |
| Stage IIA | no tumor can be found in the breast, but larger cancer cells are found in few axillary lymph nodes or in the lymph nodes near the breast bone; or the tumor measures 2 cm or smaller and has spread to the axillary lymph nodes; or the tumor is larger than 2 cm (maximum 5cm) and has not spread to the axillary lymph nodes |
| Stage IIB | the tumor is larger than 2 cm (maximum 5cm); small groups of breast cancer cells are found in the lymph nodes; or the tumor is larger than 2 cm (maximum 5cm); cancer has spread to 1-3 axillary lymph nodes or to lymph nodes near the breastbone; or the tumor is larger than 5 cm but has not spread to the axillary lymph nodes |
| Stage III (invasive locally advanced) |
the tumor in the breast is more than two inches in diameter across and the cancer is extensive in the underarm lymph nodes, or has spread to other lymph nodes or tissues near the breast |
| Stage IIIA | no tumor is found in the breast or the tumor may be any size; cancer is found in 4-9 axillary lymph nodes or in the lymph nodes near the breastbone; or the tumor is larger than 5 cm; small groups of breast cancer cells are found in the lymph nodes; or the tumor is larger than 5 cm; cancer has spread to 1-3 axillary lymph nodes or to the lymph nodes near the breastbone. |
| Stage IIIB | the tumor may be any size and has spread to the chest wall and/or skin of the breast and caused swelling or an ulcer and could be spread to up to 9 axillary lymph nodes; or may have spread to lymph nodes near the breastbone. |
| Stage IIIC | there may be no sign of cancer in the breast or there is a tumor (any size) and may have spread to the chest wall and/or the skin of the breast and the cancer has spread to 10 or more axillary lymph nodes; or the cancer has spread to lymph nodes above or below the collarbone; or the cancer has spread to axillary lymph nodes or to lymph nodes near the breastbone. |
| Stage IV (metastatic) | the cancer has spread beyond the breast, underarm and internal mammary lymph nodes to other parts of the body near to or distant from the breast such as the lungs, distant lymph nodes, skin, bones, liver or brain. |
Recurrent breast cancer can be considered as a special stage when the disease has returned in spite of the initial treatment.
Sometimes doctors could use another staging system known as TNM to describe the cancer. This system is based on the size of the tumor (T), lymph node involvement (N), and whether the cancer has spread, or metastasized, to other parts of the body (M).
Every year the effectiveness of breast cancer treatments are improving, and women survival changes are increasing dramatically. But still, survival rates depend on breast cancer stages.
Breast cancer stages and survival rates
According to the National Cancer Institute’s SEER database (2015), breast cancer survival rates:
 Breast cancer survival |
Stage | 5-year Relative Survival Rate |
| 0 | 100% | |
| 1 | 100% | |
| 2 | 93% | |
| 3 | 72% | |
| 4 | 22% |
The 5-year observed survival rate refers to the percentage of patients who live at least 5 years after being diagnosed with cancer. Many of these patients live much longer than 5 years after diagnosis. Presently several studies are working on 10-year relative survival rates for women suffering from breast cancer.
So, millions of women survive breast cancer but life after breast cancer is full of concern about a recurrence and about new cancer. It is very important to follow Anticancer diet and discover Breast cancer survival strategies.
