Tumour size helps doctors determine stages of breast cancer
Tumour size is an
important consideration in determining breast cancer staging.
Every breast
cancer patient’s disease condition is different, but its stage provides a
general indication of a patient’s treatment options and outlook.
The overall
stages of cancer range from 0 to 4.
Stage 0 means that breast cancer is at a very early stage and has not yet
spread. Stage 4 is late-stage breast cancer, in which cancer has spread to
other parts of the body. people with early-stage breast cancer are likely to have
smaller tumours that are easier to treat. But, large tumours indicate
late-stage breast cancer, which may be more difficult to treat.
To determine the severity of the disease, size of primary breast cancer a tumour is measured at its widest point and unit of measure is millimetres(mm)
or centimetres(cm).
Apart from tumour size, there are also other factors that help in
determining the stages of breast cancer. These include the status of lymph nodes,
appearance of cancer cells, hormone receptor status, level of human epidermal
growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and metastasis condition.
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