Breast Cancer Awareness

Part IV

Stages of Breast Cancer

Stage 0 - is carcinoma in situ, early stage cancer that is confined to the ducts or the lobules, depending on where it started. It has not gone into the tissues in the breast nor spread to other organs in the body.

• Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS): This is the most common type of noninvasive   breast cancer, when abnormal cells are in the lining of a duct. DCIS is also   called intraductal carcinoma. DCIS sometimes becomes invasive cancer if not   treated.

• Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS): This condition begins in the milk-making   glands but does not go through  the wall of the lobules. LCIS seldom becomes    invasive cancer; however, having LCIS in one breast increases the risk of   cancer for both breasts.

Stage I - is an early stage of invasive breast cancer. In Stage I, cancer cells have not spread beyond the breast and the tumor is no more than 2 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch) across.

Stage II - is one of the following:
• The tumor in the breast is no more than 2 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch)    across. The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.

• The tumor is between 2 and 5 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch to 2 inches). The cancer may have spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.

• The tumor is larger than 5 centimeters (2 inches). The cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.

Stage III - may be a large tumor, but the cancer has not spread beyond the breast and nearby lymph nodes. It is locally advanced cancer.

Stage IIIA - is one of the following:
o The tumor in the breast is smaller than 5 centimeters (2 inches). The cancer has spread to underarm lymph nodes that are attached to each other or to other structures.
o The tumor is more than 5 centimeters across. The cancer has spread to the underarm lymph nodes.

Stage IIIB - is one of the following:
o The tumor has grown into the chest wall or the skin of the breast.
o The cancer has spread to lymph nodes behind the breastbone.
o Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare type of Stage IIIB breast cancer. The breast     looks red and swollen because cancer cells block the lymph vessels in the skin     of the breast.

Stage IIIC - is a tumor of any size. It has spread in one of the following ways:
o The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes behind the breastbone and under the arm.
o The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes under or above the collarbone.

Stage IV - is distant metastatic cancer. The cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
Recurrent cancer - Recurrent cancer is cancer that has come back (recurred) after a period of time when it could not be detected. It may recur locally in the breast or chest wall as another primary cancer, or it may recur in any other part of the body, such as the bone, liver, or lungs, which is generally referred to as metastatic cancer.