The Stages of Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is one of the dreaded diseases known to women. Once you’ve found out that you have this condition, it’s the beginning of a strenuous series of tests and treatments. After you are diagnosed with a breast cancer or the symptoms of it, determining the stage of it will be the next step. Staging a breast cancer condition is an integral part of figuring how to approach the best treatment possible.
The staging systems of breast cancer are categorized from Stage 0 to Stage IIIB. These stages are the predictors of the breast cancer’s condition and the determining factor for the most appropriate treatment for it. The rundown of the stages are as follows;

Stage 0: In this stage the breast cancer is described to be non-invasive. The cancer cells are still contained where it started and there are no evidences of break out activity getting through the normal tissue barriers. LCIS which is Lobular Carcinoma In Situ and DCIS which is Ductal Carcinoma In Situ are examples of breast cancers in stage 0. These conditions are classified to be pre-cancerous and sometimes referred to as “Tis” which means, “tumor in situ”.

Stage I: In this stage the breast cancer has become an invasive condition. The cancer cells have broken through the normal barrier tissues and they have begun to invade the normal tissues surrounding the breast. The size of the tumor will be up to two centimeters but then no lymph nodes are involved.

Stage II: In this stage the invasive breast cancer is described in terms where the size of the tumor has grown, the cancer has spread and there are lymph nodes found under the arm alongside the breast with the cancer. The affected lymph nodes in this stage have not stuck to one another yet or to other surrounding tissue which is a sign that the condition has not advance yet to stage III.
Stage III: This stage is divided into two subcategories which are Stage IIIA and Stage IIIB. In stage IIIA, the tumor has grown considerably larger, measuring more than five centimeters. Also, the involvement of the lymph nodes have become more significant. The lymph nodes have begun to stick to one another or have clump together on the surrounding tissue. In stage IIIB, this invasive breast cancer condition has already spread to the skin of the breast, the chest wall and the internal lymph nodes of the mammary gland which is located inside the middle of your chest, right under your ribs and beneath your breast. Inflammatory breast cancer is also included in stage IIIB. This type of breast cancer is very serious and very aggressive which is also very uncommon. Inflammatory breast cancer is distinguished with redness of a part of a breast or all of the breast that feels warm, with puffiness, ridges, hives and welts of the breast skin. This condition is sometimes misdiagnosed for just a simple type of breast infection which can be dangerous to a woman’s health.
The staging process of a breast cancer can be one of the most stressful times of your life. But once the uncertainty is gone and you finally know what stage of breast cancer you’re going to deal with. Once you’ve finally start addressing this condition you’ll feel much better knowing that you’re already doing something that will rid of your current condition.