The Stages in Breast Cancer
The human body from the kidney to the pancreas normally develops cancer cells. When these spread out of hand, this is when the tumor, which was once benign, can cause problems for the person.
The same thing happens in the breast and if this is not contained, the situation can get worse. No one yet knows why this happens. Doctors have pointed to a lot of factors such as stress, the working environment and menopause but have not been able to really pinpoint the source.
The best thing that doctors can do is react well with the cooperation of the patient to have this removed through various methods to stop this from spreading and from ever coming back.
But how does the doctor know what stage is the cancer? There are dozens of tests performed aside from a biopsy. The most widely used is called the TNM system. This stands for tumor node metastasis.
Breast cancer happens in stages. This has been classified into 4 stages which will tell the doctor how big the tumor is.
The first stage is when the tumor is less than 2 cm. across and is just confined to the breast.
Stage 2 is when the tumor has grown to 5 cm. and has already spread to the lymph nodes under the arm of the person.
Stage 3 is far worse since the tumor has already spread to other tissues and is more than 5 cm. in size.
Patients who have been diagnosed in stage 4 are in big trouble. The disease has spread to all parts of the body and it is just a matter of time before each system shuts down.
The second part of the system will determine the patient’s lymph node status. This is because cancer cells can travel in the body through using this area. There are two ways to find out.
The first is by touch. The doctor will feel the area and if there are any lumps, this will be given a certain classification. Most of the time, this can be determined using this type of testing.
The second type will involve some surgery. The doctors will have to extract a sample from the breast and determine if this cancerous or not.
After this has been completed, the doctor will be able to know what stage the cancer is in and explain this to the patient in order to decide the kind of treatment that will be taken. This can also tell the survival rates of anyone who has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
To be sure that the results are correct, the samples are also given to a pathologist who will confirm this in the lab. The professionals will explain the following; the status of the hormone, the rate that the disease is growing, if this has spread to other parts of the body and what exactly has been affected.
The initial reactions of anyone who is diagnosed with breast cancer are shock, anger, anxiety and a lot others. The news will be very hard for the doctor to say and some even ask another doctor for a second opinion.
Breast cancer is something hard to swallow. The options will be laid out together with the pros and cons before anything will be done to stop the disease from spreading.
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