Breast Cancer Stages
Are All Breast Cancers Alike?
Breast cancer is a complex disease. All cases are not the same. Once breast cancer has been found, more tests will be done to find out the specific pattern (description) of your disease. This important step is called staging. The following chart explains the stages. Knowing the exact stage of your disease will help your doctor plan your treatment. Your doctor will want to know:
The size of the tumor and exactly where it is in your breast.
If the cancer has spread within your breast.
If cancer is present in your lymph nodes under your arm.
If cancer is present in other parts of your body.

Staging - Specific Patterns of Breast Cancer
Stage 0
Very early breast cancer. This type of cancer has not spread within or outside the breast. It is sometimes called DCIS, LCIS, or breast cancer in situ or noninvasive cancer.
Stage I
The cancer is no larger than about 1 inch in size and has not spread outside the breast. (Also described as early breast cancer.)
Stage II
The doctor may find any of the following:
The cancer is no larger than 1 inch, but has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.
The cancer is between 1 and 2 inches. It may or may not have spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.
The cancer is larger than 2 inches, but has not spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.

Stage III
Stage IIIA
Stage III is divided into stages IIIA and IIIB:
The doctor may find either of the following:
The cancer is smaller than 2 inches and has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm. The cancer also is spreading further to other lymph nodes.
The cancer is larger than 2 inches and has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.
Stage IIIB
The doctor may find either of the following:
The cancer has spread to tissues near the breast (skin, chest wall, including the ribs and the muscles in the chest).
The cancer has spread to lymph nodes inside the chest wall along the breast bone.

Stage IV
The cancer has spread to other parts of the body, most often the bones, lungs, liver, or brain. Or, the tumor has spread locally to the skin and lymph nodes inside the neck, near the collarbone.
Inflammatory Breast Cancer
Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare, but very serious, aggressive type of breast cancer. The breast may look red and feel warm. You may see ridges, welts, or hives on your breast; or the skin may look wrinkled. It is sometimes misdiagnosed as a simple infection.
Recurrent
Breast Cancer
Recurrent disease means that the cancer has come back (recurred) after it has been treated. It may come back in the breast, in the soft tissues of the chest (the chest wall), or in another part of the body.
(Tumor size is usually reported in metric measurement: 1 centimeter = approximately 1/2 inch.)
Content Courtesy : cancer.gov
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