After a diagnosis of breast cancer, staging takes place. Staging categorizes the spread of the cancer based on standardized guidelines, depending on tumor size, lymph node involvement and any metastasis, which means spreading to other organs. Staging of breast cancer goes from Stage 0, non-invasive cancer; to Stage IV, metastatic breast cancer.
Significance
According to the National Cancer Institute, in the United States in 2009, approximately 207,090 women and 1,970 men were newly diagnosed with breast cancer and nearly 40,000 women and 400 men died from the disease. The American Cancer Society describes breast cancer as a leading cause of deaths from cancer in women, second only to lung cancer.
Symptoms
The American Cancer Society says that the most common symptom of breast cancer is a new lump or mass in the breast. Other possible symptoms can include swelling of all or some of the breast, dimpling of the skin of the breast, nipple or breast pain, retraction of the nipple, redness or thickness of the breast skin or abnormal discharge from the nipple.
Features
Stage III breast cancer is broken down into three sub-stages, according to the American Cancer Society. Stage IIIA is diagnosed when: the tumor is less than 5 centimeters and cancer is in four to nine lymph nodes under the armpit or lymph nodes in the breast are swollen; or when the tumor is more than 5 centimeters but does not involve the chest wall or skin and one to nine lymph nodes in the armpit or breast are malignant. The National Cancer Institute describes Stage IIIB as a tumor of any size that may have invaded the chest wall or skin and either groups of connected lymph nodes in the armpit are malignant or nodes near the breastbone are cancerous. Stage IIIC breast cancer as a tumor of any size and cancer has been found in lymph nodes above or below the clavicle, in ten or more nodes in the armpit and nodes near the breastbone.
Treatment
Treatment options for Stage III breast cancer can vary, depending on the sub-stage and whether it is operable or not. They include lumpectomy, which removes the tumor and a surrounding area of tissue; or mastectomy, with or without radiation or chemotherapy; hormone therapy; or a clinical trial of new medications, says the National Cancer Institute. Treatment may also be a combination of any of these modalities.
Prognosis
Cancer survival rates are typically based on the five-year survival rate, or the percentage of individuals alive at least five years after diagnosis. For Stage III breast cancer, the American Cancer Society estimates the five-year survival rate at 57 percent.
