Mild Attack Of Breast Cancer Leads to Severity

• Stage 0.
Stage 0 is non invasive cancer stage. There are some abnormal cells in the breast but these are non cancerous. They however start breaking out of the place in breasts where these originally started. This stage is named as breast carcinoma in situ. There are two subcategories of stage one:

a. Ductal carcinoma in situ, DCIS
b. Lobular carcinoma in situ, LCIS

In DCIS, breast cancer starts in the ducts (lining in breasts for draining milk). Basically these are non cancerous abnormal cells in ducts not coming outside the ducts. However it may become invasive if not treated in time.
LCIS refers to those abnormal cells found in the lobules of breasts. It is non invasive as well but it can cause breast cancer in either of the breasts.
•Stage I
Under stage I cancer has basically developed in the breast. In this stage cancer becomes invasive which states that cancerous cells start invading the other normal tissues of breast. The subdivisions of stage I are named as;

a.IA
b. IB

In IA, the tumor develops to a mass of 2cm; however the cancer does not spread outside breast. On the other hand, in IB the tumor is measured to 2cm and there are groups of cancer cells ranging between the mass of 0.2 to 2mm in the lymph node, but not more than this.
•Stage II
Stage II has two subcategories;

a. IIA
b. IIB

In IIA the size ranges between 2 to 5cm but does not exceed 5cm, though the lymph nodes in armpit does not contain cancerous cells. Or there is another possibility that a tumor is not established in breast, but the lymph nodes under arm contain cancer cells.
The tumor is less than 5cm, but the lymph nodes under arm have developed cancer cells in IIB. Or the other possibility is that the tumor in breast has exceeded the mass of 5cm, however no cancer cells are formed in lymph nodes under arm.
•Stage III
The subcategories of stage III are;

a. IIIA
b. IIIB
c. IIIC

In IIIA cancer is formed in axillary lymph nodes, but no tumor is found in breasts. However cancer may spread to breastbone. Or tumor is larger than 5cm and may spread to lymph nodes which are connected to other structure.
Tumor gets developed in breast under stage IIIB, and has spread in the breast skin which is known as inflammatory breast cancer. It may spread to the lymph nodes.
IIIC is a stage, in which either there can be a tumor in breast or may not, but the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes near breastbone, or it is found in lymph nodes bellow or above collarbone.
•Stage IV
IV stage is a stage where cancer has become so much invasive that it has invaded to the other organs of bodies i.e. lungs, liver and other parts.
Knowledge about different stage makes you aware of the importance of breast exam. Different stages have different level of severity. The important thing is early detection of breast cancer. As the breast cancer will be detected in earlier stages, the chances of life survival will be higher.

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