Some precancerous growths are staged as stage 0 breast cancer.
The higher the stage, the more advanced the cancer is.
This article will cover the breast cancer stages and how treatable and curable they are.
Verywell / Jessica Olah
Healthcare providers use information like the tumors size and how far it has spread to determine breast cancers stage.
Breast cancer grading is done on a piece of tissue taken from the tumor during abreast biopsy.
The grade represents how wild the cells look and how many of them are actively dividing.
Breast cancer grades range from 1 to 3.
Higher-grade cancers are more aggressive.
Different cancer types are often graded slightly differently due to their aggressiveness.
It is a precancerous, or noninvasive, abnormal growth in the breast.
These cells may look abnormal, but the growth isn’t cancerous (yet).
It hasn’t invaded any other parts of the breast or surrounding tissues or organs.
Stage 0 breast cancer generally has no signs or symptoms.
Often there isn’t a lump that you or your healthcare provider can feel.
One potential symptom is slight discharge from the nipple.
DCIS has excellent long-term breast cancer-specific survival.
After about 10 years, only 2.9% of people diagnosed with DCIS die of breast cancer.
They have a life expectancy similar to that of the general population.
Active surveillance includes regular physical exams and mammograms to see if the growth progresses into invasive cancer.
Cases of DCIS make up about 20% to 25% of all breast cancers.
The most common symptom of early breast cancer is a new lump or mass.
Most breast lumps are due to benign breast conditions and are not cancer.
But a painless, hard mass with irregular edges is more likely to be cancer.
Breast cancer lumps can be soft, round, tender, or painful.
Hormone therapies and chemotherapy can help reduce the risk of cancer returning.
That means almost all people diagnosed with localized breast cancer are still alive five years later.
Lymph nodes will be removed and biopsied, and others may need to be treated with radiation.
You may also get hormone therapy, targeted therapy, orimmunotherapy, depending on the characteristics of your cancer.
Immunotherapies may be an option for high-risk (stages 2 and 3) triple-negative cancers.
Stage 3
Stage 3 (or stage III) breast canceris often called invasive breast cancer.
Symptoms of invasive breast cancers are similar to earlier-stage cancers.
They can include:
Stage 3 breast cancers also includeinflammatory breast cancers.
Inflammatory breast cancers are more aggressive but rareonly about 1% to 5% of breast cancers are inflammatory.
But they often do not present the same way as other breast cancers and can be missed.
They usually do not cause a breast lump and might not appear on a mammogram.
Symptoms also develop quickly, within three to six months.
Lymph nodes will also likely be removed during surgery.
These cancers include some stage 2 and most stage 3 breast cancers.
It is also called metastatic breast cancer or advanced breast cancer.
It has, by definition, spread to organs in other parts of the body.
These organs may include the lungs, skin, bones, liver, or brain.
This may include hormone therapy, targeted therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation, or surgery.
According to the SEER database, about 6% of breast cancers are stage 4 before being detected.
This helps them decide what treatment to give and how the cancer might affect the patient.
The system looks at:
There are four main stages of breast cancer.
The higher the stage, the more advanced the cancer is and the harder it is to treat.
Stage 0 is abnormal cells in the breast, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
It doesn’t typically present with symptoms.
It’s often detected through a mammogram and biopsy.
Stage 0 breast cancer treatment may include surgery and hormone therapy.
Some may not require treatment.
It has a high survival rate.
Stage 1 breast cancer has started to grow into the breast tissue.
Stage 2 breast cancer is bigger or may have spread to nearby lymph nodes.
Stage 2 breast cancer symptoms may include breast pain, skin changes, or nipple discharge.
Treatment options for these stages include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and targeted therapies.
Stage 3 breast cancer has spread even farther and may have started to affect the skin or chest wall.
These are invasive and inflammatory breast cancers.
Symptoms include skin changes, rashes, and breast pain.
Treatment includes surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and targeted therapies.
Stage 4 is breast cancer has spread to other body parts.
It is also called metastatic breast cancer.
It is the most advanced and is considered incurable.
Symptoms of advanced breast cancer include pain, fatigue, and organ-specific issues.
Treatment aims to manage symptoms and improve quality of life.
It may involve hormone therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiation.
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