Breast Cancer Information - Breast Cancer Stages

Breast cancer is emotionally and physically painful for the patient as also the members of the family. At this time, it would be useful to know about breast cancer symptoms, diagnosis and of course the stages too. Here is information regarding the breast cancer stages.

Breast Cancer Stages

Stage 1
In this stage:

    * The lymph nodes located in the underarm are not affected.
    * The cancer is confined in the same area.
    * The breast tumor is no more than 2 cm across.

Stage 2
This stage in further divided into two groups. The first stage is 2A, in this stage:

    * The tumor measures less than 2 cm, the lymph nodes under the arm contain cancer but are not stuck to each other and the cancer has not spread
      or
    * The breast tumor is less than 5 cm, the lymph nodes in the armpit do not contain cancer cells and the cancer has not spread to other areas or
    * No tumors are seen in the breast and the lymph nodes under the arm contain cancer cells but are not stuck together. Also there is no sign of the spread of cancer to other parts of the body.

In Stage 2B:

    * The breast tumor is less than 5 cm and the lymph nodes under the arm contain cancer cells. Luckily they are not stuck together and the cancer has not spread or
    * The tumor is larger than 5 cm across and there are no cancer cells in the lymph nodes in the armpit. The cancer has also not spread.

Stage 3 Stage 3 of the breast cancer stage is further divided into 3 stages.

In Stage 3A

    * There is no tumor seen in the breast, the lymph nodes under the arm contain cancer cells that are stuck together. There is no sign of spread of cancer or
    * The tumor is 5 cm or less in size and the lymph nodes in the armpit contain cancer cells. These cells are stuck together, but the cancer has not spread elsewhere or
    * The tumor is more than 5 cm and the lymph nodes in the armpit contain cancer cells. These cancer cells maybe stuck together nut there is no further spread.

In Stage 3B:

    * The tumor is fixed to the chest wall or the skin, and the lymph nodes may or may not contain cancer cells. Fortunately, there is no further spread.

In Stage 3C:

    * The tumor can be of any size and has spread to lymph nodes located in the armpit and under the breast bone, or nodes above or under the collarbone. It does not spread any further that it already has.

Stage 4
In this stage:

    * The tumor can be of any size.
    * The lymph nodes may not necessarily contain cancer cells.
    * The cancer has spread or metastasized to other parts of the body for instance the bones, lungs and the liver.

Here is some more breast cancer information

    * Early Breast Cancer
      This is a tem used to denote that the cancer has not spread outside the breast or the lymph nodes in the armpit, implying that the cancer has not spread to other parts of the body.
    * Local Recurrence
      This is used to refer to breast cancer that has come back in the area of the breast after treatment.
    * Advanced Breast Cancer
      This term is used to refer to the cancer that has not spread to another part of the body but might be:
          o Bigger than 5 centimeters across
          o Growing into the muscle or skin of the chest.
          o Present in the lymph nodes located in the armpits. These are either stuck together or other structures.
    * Secondary or Metastatic Breast Cancer or Stage 4
      This means that the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.