Different Stages Of Breast Cancer And Chances Of Recovering

It is important to check for breast cancer as how long one can live depends on the stage at which breast cancer is diagnosed. Women who are diagnosed early with breast cancer have a much better chance. Even for women whose breast cancer has not metastasized, their fighting chance to live for another 5 years is about 86%.

As with most cancers, breast cancer, develops in stages. A standard classification of letters and numbers is used to describe the stages - T, N and M and 0-IV. The alphabet T denotes the size of the tumor while alphabet N denotes that it has spread to the lymph nodes and the alphabet M means distant metastasis. When a primary tumor spreads to another area/s and forms more tumors, it has metastasized.

A tumor is noted as TX when it defies assessment. Where there is no indication of cancer, T0 is used. If one of the following forms is suspected - DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ), LCIS (lobular carcinoma in situ) or Paget's disease (where the nipple and/or areola is cancerous) - Tis is used.

Stage 0 indicates that the cancer is in its earliest stage. Stage 1 means that the tumors are less than 2cm long and the cancerous cells have not spread. A tumor that is 2-5cm in diameter is classified as Stage II, and a tumor larger than 5cm is considered Stage III. When a tumor has attached to the chest wall and spread to the lymph nodes it is considered to be Stage IV.

Today, due to medical advances, many breast cancers are diagnosed and treated during the early stages.

Treatment received in Stage 0 and Stage I results in men and women having five year survival rates of almost 100%. And yes, men can develop breast cancer, though at a far lower rate of 1/133 when compared to women. For those with cancer in Stage II, the survival rate is at 81% to 92%. At Stage III the rate lowers to 67%, and then drops substantially to 20% at Stage IV.

Although it is a very serious illness, breast cancer is seldom life threatening. Women who have advanced stages of cancer have been known to live for more than seven years. As technology and medicine advance, survival rates increase. Even later stage cancer survival rates are rising as medical and treatment methods improve.

A fairly new method of diagnosing cancer is the QM-MSP (quantitative multiplex methylation-specific PCR) method. It was invented in 2001 and it involves tests done on fluids taken from the breast area. The chemical analysis undertaken during this test allows cancer to be detected with 86% reliability, and cancer clumps with as little as 50 cells can found. Treatment given in the early stages is highly effective, and new methods like this allow cancer to be diagnosed at the earliest possible stage.

Treatments are getting more advanced as there are targeted radiation, hormone therapy and more specific drugs available.

Breast cancer is no longer the death sentence it used to be. Although the disease is still a matter of serious concern, the chances of survival are high and treatments are now less invasive.

Article Source: http://www.a1-articledirectory.com

Moses Wright is a health conscious webmaster who is highly interested in breast cancer issues. He started this site during his free time to help people learn more about what is breast cancer and breast cancer self exam.

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated