Stages Of Cancer
By Dr Mohan Vamsy

Stages of breast cancer
Cancer stages is based on the size of the tumour, whether the cancer is invasive or non-invasive, whether lymph nodes are involved, and whether the cancer has spread beyond the breast.

The purpose of the staging system is to help organize the different factors and some of the personality features of the cancer into categories, in order to:

Best understand your prognosis. Guide treatment decisions (together with other parts of your pathology report), since clinical studies of breast cancer treatments that you and your doctor will consider are partly organized by the staging system.

Provide a common way to describe the extent of breast cancer for doctors and nurses all over the world, so that results of your treatment can be compared and understood.

Stage 0
The number is non-invasive, with no evidence of cancer cells breaking through into the surrounding healthy tissue.

Stage I
The tumour is invasive but remains small (less than 2 cm in diameter), and no lymph nodes are involved.

Stage II
The tumour is invasive and has a diameter of 2-5cm, or the tumour is smaller but has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm on the same side as the breast cancer.

Stage III
The tumour is more than 5cm across, or the tumour is smaller but shows some of the following characteristics:
Has spread to the lymph nodes that have stuck to one another or to the surrounding tissues.
Has spread to breast skin, chest wall or internal mammary lymph nodes.

Stage IV
The tumour has spread to other organs. Blood tests and imaging of other areas of your body like your lungs or bones. Investigation can help your doctor decide how far the cancer has spread.

Early, advanced and metastatic breast cancer
These relate to the staging of cancers as shown.

	Stages
Early	0-II
Advanced	III
Metastic	IV

Screening methods are becoming much more effective at detecting cancer in its early stages. In most cases, lymph found through screening or self-examination will be found to be early-stages disease. Only in about 10 percent will the cancer have already spread at the time of initial diagnosis.

Dr Vamsy, is Director & Chief Surgical Oncologist,
Indo-American Cancer Institute & Research Center, Hyderabad.

Courtesy: The Week