Following an initial diagnosis of breast cancer, a woman often
feels frightened and overwhelmed; then later as she adjusts,
she starts to gather as much information about her condition
as possible, both from her medical doctors and from outside
sources. In the meantime, the physician will have started
the patient on additional tests that will pinpoint the specifics
of the woman’s cancer. This important testing will establish
what is called her breast cancer stage.
It should be noted that breast cancer is different in each
individual and, therefore, the breast cancer stage of each
patient’s disease needs to be classified. This is all
very confusing to the newly initiated woman and family, but
this rating system is vital for detailing each person’s
tumor. Then the best possible treatment plan can be designed
by her doctors. This process called “staging”
is most commonly expressed through a system which uses Roman
numerals, capital letters, more capital letters, and numbers
(called the AJCC/TNM staging system). After all diagnostic
tests are completed, the woman’s breast cancer stage
is then assigned.
Under the Roman numerals, the breast cancer stage of 0 means
the cancer is confined to the site of origin; I through IV
establishes progression, with IV meaning the cancer is the
worst and has spread to other parts of the body (called metastasis).
As listed in the American Cancer Society’s summary of
breast cancer stages, the capital letters following the Roman
numerals are A and B and C, further rating the progression
of the tumor in severity. The capital letters used next are
T and N and M: T is for “tumor” size and location;
N stands for lymph “node” involvement; M means
“metastasis” and denotes whether the cancer has
spread to a distant area of the body. These letters are followed
by numbers (usually 1, 2, 3, 4) which detail even more precise
rating.
A classification of the breast cancer stages combines the
Roman numbers, capital letters and numbers. For example, Stage
I: T1, N0, M0 is a tumor of 2 cm. or less, no lymph node involvement,
no metastasis. Another example is Stage IIIB: T4, N0-2, M0
where the tumor is enlarged, involves 0 to more lymph nodes,
but has no metastasis. The most serious of the breast cancer
stages is Stage IV: T0-4, N0-3, M1 where the tumor can be
small to large in size, may be in the lymph nodes, and has
definitely spread (metastasized) to another area of the body,
like the liver, lungs or bones.
For those who like to visualize in a table form, the stages
are listed below, using the T, N, M classifications:
Stage O:
Tis, N0, M0 (“is” stands for “in situ”)
Stage I:
T1, N0, M0
Stage IIA:
T0, M1, M0
T1, N1, M0
T2, N0, M0
Stage IIB:
T2, N1, M0
T3, N0, M0
Stage IIIA:
T0, N2, M0
T1, N2, M0
T2, N2, M0
T3, N1, M0
T3, N2, M0
Stage IIIB:
T4, N0-2, M0
Stage IIIC:
T0-4, N3, M0
Stage IV:
T0-4, N0-3, M1
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