Breast cancer

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Breast Lump Removal: Illustrated Series	Breast self-exam	Breast self-exam	Breast self-exam
Female breast	Mammary gland	Mastectomy: An Illustrated Introduction	Needle biopsy of the breast
Open biopsy of the breast	Sentinel node biopsy

Stages of Breast Cancer (from the American Joint Committee on Cancer):

• STAGE 0. In Situ ("in place") disease in which the cancerous cells are in their original location within normal breast tissue. Known as either DCIS (ductoral carcinoma in situ) or LCIS (lobular carcinoma in situ) depending on the type of cells involved and the location, this is a pre-cancerous condition, and only a small percentage of DCIS tumors progress to become invasive cancers. There is some controversy within the medical community on how to best treat DCIS.
• STAGE I. Tumor less than 2 cm in diameter with no spread beyond the breast
• STAGE IIA. Tumor 2 to 5 cm in size without spread to axillary (armpit) lymph nodes or tumor less than 2 cm in size with spread to axillary lymph nodes
• STAGE IIB. Tumor greater than 5 cm in size without spread to axillary lymph nodes or tumor 2 to 5 cm in size with spread to axillary lymph nodes
• STAGE IIIA. Tumor smaller than 5 cm in size with spread to axillary lymph nodes which are attached to each other or to other structures, or tumor larger than 5 cm in size with spread to axillary lymph nodes
• STAGE IIIB. The tumor has penetrated outside the breast to the skin of the breast or of the chest wall or has spread to lymph nodes inside the chest wall along the sternum
• STAGE IV. A tumor of any size with spread beyond the region of the breast and chest wall, such as to liver, bone, or lungs

Many additional factors besides staging can influence the recommended treatment and the likely outcome. These can include the precise cell type and appearance of the cancer, whether the cancer cells respond to hormones, and the presence or absence of genes known to cause breast cancer.

Review Date: 10/21/2005
Reviewed By: Mark Levin, M.D., Acting Chief of Hematology/Oncology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and University Hospital, Newark, NJ. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.