Breast Cancer Staging

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[edit] Breast Cancer Staging

As in other cancers staging is very important at the time of the diagnosis in order to assess and treat the patient with breast cancer accurately. If things are rushed and the staging is not done adequately mistakes are made in the therapy and the patient would be undertreated resulting in premature death from overlooking bone metastases or lymph gland metastases. On the other hand, if treatments are overzealous because of an assumption that more cancer is present than there actually is, the effects of radiation could leave the patient with life long pain in the treated area.

This could have been prevented. Exact staging is done using TNM, which is a cancer classification system. A simplified 4 stage classification system that has been used for a long time and is presented here.

Stage	Breast cancer spread:
I	tumor size of less than 2 cm (= �")
II	tumor size 2cm to 5 cm (= �" to 2")
III	tumor size more than 5cm(=2") with multiple positive lymph glands in axilla
IV	tumor extends to chest wall or skin and distant metastases are present

Survival data show that apart from the absence or presence of cancer tissue in the axillary glands, the clinical pathology (findings by the pathologist when biopsies were done) also has a bearing on survival rates. A well-differentiated glandular breast cancer has a much better prognosis than a poorly differentiated rapidly dividing breast cancer. Also, the presence of estrogen receptors on the cell surface of the cancer cell will lead to better cancer survival rates as Tamoxifen can be used to suppress any remaining cancer cell in the body.

Here are some survival data (Ref. 1 and 3):

5-year survivial for breast cancer
Breast cancer stage at time of diagnosis:	5-year survival:
I and II	92%
IIIA	72%
IIIB	38%
IV	19%

Find more info about breast cancer staging through this link.

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Cancer overview

Breast cancer

References:

The following references were used apart from my own clinical experience:

1. Cancer: Principles &Practice of Oncology, 4^th edition, by V.T. De Vita,Jr., et. al J.B. Lippincott Co.,Philadelphia, 1993. Vol.2: Chapter 48.

2. The Merck Manual, 7^th edition, by M. H. Beers et al., Whitehouse Station, N.J., 1999. Chapter 177.

3. Cancer: Principles&Practice of Oncology. 5th edition, volume 1. Edited by Vincent T. DeVita, Jr. et al. Lippincott-Raven Publ., Philadelphia,PA, 1997. Chapter 36: 1541-1616.

4. BS Herbert et al. Breast Cancer Res 2001;3(3):146-149.

5. BS Herbert et al. J Natl Cancer Inst 2001 Jan 3;93(1):39-45.

6. Conn's Current Therapy 2004, 56th ed., Copyright © 2004 Elsevier

7. Ferri: Ferri's Clinical Advisor: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment, 2004 ed., Copyright © 2004 Mosby, Inc