Are you aware of the different stages of breast cancer? Everyone knows that in order to beat any type of cancer it is better to beat it in the early stages, but what exactly are those early stages?

By gaining a better understanding of the various breast cancer stages, you will have a better chance of understanding the condition if you do one day develop it.

The Early Stages of Breast Cancer

There are four main early stages within breast cancer and they include:

Stage 0 breast cancer
Stage 1 breast cancer
Stage 2 breast cancer
Stage 3/A

There are two types of breast cancer stage 3. The first, stage 3/A is found in the early stages and it is generally where the tumour is more than 5cm in diameter. Overall the early stages range from the cancer just beginning in stage 0 to the cancer spreading a little further in the breast in stage 2 up to stage 3/A where the cancer is in the later early stages and almost into advanced.

It is the early stages of breast cancer which provides the best breast cancer stage survival rate.

Advanced Breast Cancer Stages

In advanced breast cancer there are mainly 2 different stages and these are known as:

Stage 3/B
Breast cancer stage IV

Stage IV breast cancer is obviously the most severe and it is known as Metastatic cancer. In this stage the cancer has spread throughout the body to the major organs and it is certainly not good news.

Stage 3/B is where the cancer has spread into the skin and the tumour can basically be any size. Some people also call this stage, stage 4 breast cancer but its official name is Stage IIIB/C.

Overall the breast cancer final stages progression is extremely quick. It quickly takes over the whole body, though it will depend entirely upon the person. Some people live for another year or two after they have been told that the cancer is in advanced stages, but mainly people only live a few more months if that. The end stage of breast cancer is extremely difficult and at the moment the survival rate of people with advanced breast cancer is fairly low.

So by learning about each breast cancer stage you will be gaining a greater knowledge on the condition which means that if you ever do develop it, you will know a lot more about how far the condition has spread.