Staging in Breast Cancer
There are 4 stagings in breast cancer. These;
- Stage 0: Ductal carcinoma in situ DCIS (ductal carcinoma in milk) and LCIS (lobular carcinoma in milk). Cancer is in the formation stage. It has not spread to surrounding tissues. It is limited to the area where it begins to form.
- Stage 1: It is the initial stage of breast cancer that can spread. Stage 1 tumor is 2 cm. It is a condition where the cancer cells are not more than 100 cm wide and the cancer cells have not spread to any place other than the breast (lymph nodes).
- Stage 2:
In Stage 2A
- There is no tumor in the breast, but there is cancer in the lymph nodes in the armpit; or
- the tumor is 2 cm or smaller and has spread to the lymph nodes in the armpit; or
- The tumor is larger than 2 cm and less than 5 cm and has not spread to the axillary lymph nodes.
In Stage 2B
- It is larger than 2 cm, less than 5 cm and has spread to the axillary lymph nodes; or
- It is larger than 5 cm but has not spread to the armpit lymph nodes.
Never 3A
- There is no tumor in the breast, but there is cancer in the axillary lymph nodes (lymph nodes under the arm) that are attached to each other or to surrounding tissues; or
- the tumor is 5 cm or smaller and has spread to surrounding tissues or to the axillary lymph nodes that are attached to each other; or
- The tumor is larger than 5 cm and has spread to the armpit lymph nodes (they may be attached to each other or to the surrounding tissues).
Stage 3B
- The tumor can be any size and
- has spread to the tissues adjacent to the breast (skin or chest wall, ribs or muscles in the chest wall) and
- It may spread to the lymph nodes in the breast or to the lymph nodes under the arm.
In Stage 3C; cancer
- It has spread to the lymph nodes below the collarbone and along the adjacent neck, and
- Cancer can spread to the lymph nodes under the arm and in the breast, and to tissues adjacent to the breast.
Stage 3C is divided into operable and inoperable.
In operable Stage 3C breast cancer;
- There is involvement of 10 or more lymph nodes in the lymph nodes under the arm, or
- There is spread to the lymph nodes under the collarbone and adjacent neck lymph nodes on the same side as the tumor in the breast, or
- There is spread to the lymph nodes in the breast and the lymph nodes under the arm.
In inoperable Stage 3C breast cancer,
- The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes above the collarbone, and there is involvement of lymph nodes in the adjacent neck area on the same side as the tumor in the breast.
Phase
It is distant metastatic cancer. The cancer has spread to other parts of the body. The aim of this stage treatment is to increase the patient’s life expectancy and keep the quality of life at a high level.
recurring cancer
It is cancer that occurs again after treatment. Cancer can recur locally (in the breast or chest wall) or in any part of the body (such as bone, liver, lung).
