Breast Cancer Staging made easy

Breast Cancer Staging made easy

 

So, you have breast cancer.  The world is spinning and on top of that you have some crazy numbers which supposedly tell you everything you need to know about your diagnosis.  Don’t worry this cheat sheet will help you understand!

 

The three stages:

T – means the tumour size

N – means the number of lymph nodes present

M – means the presence of metastases – i.e. if the cancer has spread.

 

The T’s

TX – No ability to determine the tumour

TO – no evidence of tumour

Tis – Carcinoma in situ.  This means that the tumour has not spread outside the local area.

T1 a/b/c - Tumours is 2cm or less.

T2 – Tumour is more than 2cm but less than 5cm

T3 – Tumour is more than 5cm

T4 a/b/c/d – Tumour of any size growing on the skin or chest wall. 

 

The N’s

NX – no lymph nodes can be found (they were removed)

NO – cancer is NOT in the lymph nodes

N1  - Cancer is in 1 to 3 lymph nodes in the underarm

N2 – Cancer has spread to 4-9 lymph nodes under the arm.

N3 – Cancer has spread to 10 or more lymph nodes

 

M – Mets – the spread of the cancer

MX: spread cannot be identified

M0 – no mets were found

M1 – cancer has spread to the bone, lungs, brain or liver.

 

I  hope this helps X