women s health issues
Breast Cancer
Staging of Breast Cancer
When cancer is diagnosed, a Staging Cancer is assigned to it. The stage is a number from 0 to IV (sometimes with substages indicated by letters) that reflects how extensive and aggressive the cancer is: Stage 0is assigned to in situ breast cancers, such as ductal carcinoma in situ. In situ means cancer in place. That is, the cancer has not invaded surrounding tissues or spread to other parts of the body. are assigned to cancer that has spread to tissues within or near the breast ( Extent of spread . Stage IVis assigned to metastatic breast cancer (cancer that has spread from the breast and lymph nodes in the armpit to other parts of the body). Staging the cancer helps doctors determine the appropriate treatment and the prognosis. Many factors go into determining the stage of breast cancer, such as the following: How large the cancer is Whether cancer has spread to the lymph nodes Whether it has spread (metastasized) to other organs, such as the lungs or brain Other important staging factors include the following: Grading Cancer How abnormal the cancer cells look under a microscope, scored from 1 to 3 Tumor receptors : Whether the cancer cells have Genetic testing of the cancer (such as the Oncotype DX test): For some breast cancers, how many and which abnormal genes are present in the cancer Gradevaries because although all cancer cells look abnormal, some look more abnormal than others. If the cancer cells do not look very different from normal cells, the cancer is considered well-differentiated. If the cancer cells look very abnormal, they are considered undifferentiated or poorly differentiated. Well-differentiated cancers tend to grow and spread more slowly than undifferentiated or poorly differentiated cancers. Based on these and other differences in microscopic appearance, doctors assign a grade to most cancers. The presence ofhormone receptorsandgene mutationsin the cancer cells affect how the cancer responds to different treatments and what the prognosis is. 