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Staging Breast Cancer

Familiarizing yourself with the healthcare information commonly available to patients may allow you to leverage their existing knowledge to promote new learning through discussion. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality offers the following simplified breast cancer staging system to help consumers learn about their cancer.

Stage 0: This means the disease is DCIS or LCIS.
- DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ) is very early breast cancer that is often too small to form a lump. Your doctor may refer to DCIS as noninvasive cancer.
- LCIS (Lobular Carcinoma In Situ) is not cancer but may increase the chance that you will get breast cancer. Talk with your doctor about treatment options if you are diagnosed with LCIS.
Stage I: The cancer is less than 1 inch across (2 centimeters) or about the size of a quarter. The cancer is only in the breast and has not spread to lymph nodes or other parts of your body.
Stage IIA:
- No cancer is found in your breast, but cancer is found in the lymph nodes under your arm; or
- Your cancer is 1 inch (2 centimeters) or smaller and has spread to the lymph nodes under your arm; or
- Your cancer is about 1 to 2 inches (2 to 5 centimeters) but has not spread to the lymph nodes under your arm.
Stage IIB:
- Your cancer is about 1 to 2 inches (2 to 5 centimeters) and has spread to the lymph nodes under your arm; or
- Your cancer is larger than 2 inches (5 centimeters) and has not spread to the lymph nodes under your arm.
Stage IIIA:
- No cancer is found in the breast, but is found in lymph nodes under your arm, and the lymph nodes are attached to each other; or
- Your cancer is 2 inches (5 centimeters) or smaller and has spread to lymph nodes under your arm, and the lymph nodes are attached to each other; or
- Your cancer is larger than 2 inches (5 centimeters) and has spread to lymph nodes under your arm.

A more indepth version of the same staging system is provided by The National Cancer Institute.