How far the cancer has spread within your breast and whether it has spread to nearby tissues or other organs is called the stage Your physician will find out the stage of your breast cancer by gathering information from other tests such as lymph node biopsies, blood tests, bone scans, and X-rays. The stage of your cancer is one of the most important things to think about when you choose the treatment option that is right for you. The support services team and physicians at the Sharon Ewing Walker Breast Health Center will help to provide you with information regarding your particular case and recommend the best treatment plan for you. Surgery may be one of recommendations included in your treatment plan.

The two different types of surgery used to treat early-stage breast cancer are:
Breast-conserving surgery along with radiation therapy and an exam (biopsy) of some of the lymph nodes under the arm.

• In a lumpectomy, the doctor cuts out the tumor and some of the breast tissue around it. You may also hear this called an "excisional biopsy" or "wide excision."
• In a partial or segmental mastectomy, the doctor cuts out the tumor and a larger section of breast tissue around it. He or she also cuts out the lining over the chest muscles below the tumor. But most of your breast remains.

Removal of the breast (mastectomy).

• The removal of the entire breast is called a total or simple mastectomy.
• The removal of the breast, the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes), the lining over the chest muscles, and sometimes part of the chest wall muscles is called a modified radical mastectomy.

Your surgeon may recommend a mastectomy if:

• You have two or more areas of breast cancer in the same breast that are too far apart to be removed with a single cut (incision).
• You have precancerous changes in more than one-quarter of your breast (one breast quadrant) or throughout one or both breasts.
• Your breast cancer is large or is large relative to the size of your breast, and removing it will require removing a lot of breast tissue.
• You have a serious lung disease, such as COPD or emphysema. The radiation therapy needed after a lumpectomy may make your lung problems worse.
• You have already had radiation treatment to your breast or your chest to treat another condition, such as Hodgkin's lymphoma.
• You have a connective tissue disease, such as scleroderma, that makes you especially sensitive to the effects of radiation.
• You are pregnant. Radiation treatment should not be used during pregnancy.
  

Staging in Breast Cancer

Once your cancer is diagnosed, your doctor will want to know exactly how big the cancer is and whether it has spread to the lymph nodes or other parts of your body. This is called staging a cancer. Knowing the stage of your cancer will help your doctors to develop the best treatment plan for you.

Staging is most commonly done following a surgical procedure. Sometimes a stage may be divided into an A and B category depending upon the characteristics of the tumor or lymph nodes. Your doctor may order specific tests to help determine the stage of your cancer.

Stage 1 through 4 breast cancers are all referred to as invasive or infiltrating cancers. This means that the cancer cells have spread, invaded or infiltrated into the tissue surrounding the milk duct or lobule in the breast.

Five Stages of Breast Cancer

• Stage 0: The lining of the milk duct contains abnormal cells, but the cells have not spread to the surrounding breast tissue or to the lymph nodes. This stage is also called preinvasive or noninvasive carcinoma, carcinoma in situ, or intraductal carcinoma.
• Stage 1: Tumor is smaller than 2 cm (about 1 inch) and no cancer cells are found in the lymph nodes or in other parts of the body.
• Stage 2: • Tumor is smaller than 2 cm (about 1 inch), and cancer cells are found in the lymph nodes but not in another part of the body or
• Tumor is 2-5 cm (about 1-2 inches), and cancer cells may or may not be found in the lymph nodes but not in another part of the body.
• Tumor is greater than 5 cm (about 2 inches), and cancer cells are not found in the lymph nodes or another part of the body.
• Stage 3: • Tumor is greater than 5 cm (about 2 inches), and cancer cells have spread to the lymph nodes but not to another area of the body or
• Any size tumor which has grown into the skin or chest muscles, or cased a skin ulcer with or without cancer in the lymph nodes.
• Stage 4: Tumor is any size and has spread beyond the breast and lymph nodes to other parts of the body (usually bone, liver, lung or brain). This is often called metastatic cancer.