Breast Cancer Staging
It is important for your doctor to know the 'stage', or the extent of
your breast cancer before talking with you about possible treatments.
| Stage |
Description |
| |
| T = tumor
size |
| T1 |
tumor is less
than or equal to 2 cm size |
| T2 |
tumor is greater
than 2 cm and up to 5 cm in size |
| T3 |
tumor is larger
than 5 cm |
| T4 |
tumor of any
size fixed to the chest wall or skin |
| T4a |
fixed to chest
wall only |
| T4b |
skin involvement
only |
| T4c |
both chest wall
and skin affected |
| T4d |
inflammatory
changes (breast is reddened and swollen) |
| |
| N = regional
lymph node involvement (lymph nodes in the area around the
affected breast) |
| N0 |
no cancerous
cells found in lymph nodes |
| N1 |
armpit lymph
nodes involved on the same side as affected breast, are moveable |
| N2 |
armpit lymph
nodes involved, lymph nodes are fixed or stuck in place |
| N3 |
lymph nodes are
involved, internal mammary |
| |
| M = Metastases
(cancer has spread to other parts of the body) |
| M0 |
no metastases |
| M1 |
distant metastases, including nonregional lymph
nodes |
|
The tumor size and the presence of any cancer in the lymph nodes are
confirmed by the pathologist who examines the tissues under a microscope.
A chest-x-ray, ultrasound of the abdomen, and a bone scan are routinely
done to find out if there might be any tumors anywhere else in the body.
Once the results of the tests and the stage of your cancer ar, the cancer
doctor will talk with you about possible treatments, or any clinical
trials that you might be eligible to take part in. More details about
treatment can be found in the Patient/Family
MD section of the website:
|
