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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
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Breast Cancer |
Stages of breast cancer02/24/2000 |
Could you explain the different stages of breast cancer. I keep getting asked what stage mine is. My tumor was 9mm with 1 of 29 nodes affected.
The stages of breast cancer are based on the TNM system. T refers to the size of the tumor, N refers to whether it has spread to the lymph nodes, and M refers to whether there are metastases in other parts of the body. This information is used to determine the stage numbers. Stage I is T1( the tumor is small ,less than 2cm. with no lymph node involvement or the disease is confined to the breast). Stage II can have several different characteristics: a small tumor with positive lymph nodes; a tumor 2-5 cms. with positive or negative lymph nodes; a tumor larger than 5 cms. with negative lymph nodes. Stage III is a large tumor that has invaded the muscles of the chest wall, the overlying skin, or lymph nodes above the collarbone. Stage IV is when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, typically the bones, liver, or lungs. These stages are altered according to new information the surgeon and pathologist find. Your surgeon will give you this information if you request it. Thank you for your question.
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Janet Trigg, RN, MSN, EdD Formerly: College of Nursing University of Cincinnati |
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