Living with a Stage IIIC diagnosis

Sharon, go to the part of this website that talks about stages and diagnoses at breast cancer.org.  It is very informativehttp://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/diagnosis/staging.jsp

When I first had BC I was originally told I was 2B and wouldn't need Rads.  Poof, then all of a sudden they change it to 3a with Rads.  It's very upsetting I know.  I hope you feel better as the day goes on.  I'm leaving now to see my onc for Zometa infusion.

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Home → Symptoms & Diagnosis → Your Diagnosis → Stages of Breast Cancer

Stages of Breast Cancer

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Page last modified on: January 21, 2010

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Cancer stage is based on the size of the tumor, whether the cancer is invasive or non-invasive, whether lymph nodes are involved, and whether the cancer has spread beyond the breast.

The purpose of the staging system is to help organize the different factors and some of the personality features of the cancer into categories, in order to:

• best understand your prognosis (the most likely outcome of the disease)
• guide treatment decisions (together with other parts of your pathology report), since clinical studies of breast cancer treatments that you and your doctor will consider are partly organized by the staging system
• provide a common way to describe the extent of breast cancer for doctors and nurses all over the world, so that results of your treatment can be compared and understood

Stage 0

Stage 0 is used to describe non-invasive breast cancers, such as DCIS and LCIS. In stage 0, there is no evidence of cancer cells or non-cancerous abnormal cells breaking out of the part of the breast in which they started, or of getting through to or invading neighboring normal tissue.

Stage I

Stage I describes invasive breast cancer (cancer cells are breaking through to or invading neighboring normal tissue) in which:

• the tumor measures up to 2 centimeters, AND
• no lymph nodes are involved

Stage II Stage II is divided into subcategories known as IIA and IIB.Stage IIA describes invasive breast cancer in which:no tumor can be found in the breast, but cancer cells are found in the axillary lymph nodes (the lymph nodes under the arm), OR the tumor measures 2 centimeters or less and has spread to the axillary lymph nodes, OR the tumor is larger than 2 centimeters but not larger than 5 centimeters and has not spread to the axillary lymph nodesStage IIB describes invasive breast cancer in which:the tumor is larger than 2 but no larger than 5 centimeters and has spread to the axillary lymph nodes, OR the tumor is larger than 5 centimeters but has not spread to the axillary lymph nodesStage III Stage III is divided into subcategories known as IIIA, IIIB, and IIIC.Stage IIIA describes invasive breast cancer in which either:no tumor is found in the breast. Cancer is found in axillary lymph nodes that are clumped together or sticking to other structures, or cancer may have spread to lymph nodes near the breastbone, OR the tumor is 5 centimeters or smaller and has spread to axillary lymph nodes that are clumped together or sticking to other structures, OR the tumor is larger than 5 centimeters and has spread to axillary lymph nodes that are clumped together or sticking to other structuresStage IIIB describes invasive breast cancer in which:the tumor may be any size and has spread to the chest wall and/or skin of the breast AND may have spread to axillary lymph nodes that are clumped together or sticking to other structures, or cancer may have spread to lymph nodes near the breastbone Inflammatory breast cancer is considered at least stage IIIB.Stage IIIC describes invasive breast cancer in which:there may be no sign of cancer in the breast or, if there is a tumor, it may be any size and may have spread to the chest wall and/or the skin of the breast, AND the cancer has spread to lymph nodes above or below the collarbone, AND the cancer may have spread to axillary lymph nodes or to lymph nodes near the breastboneStage IV Stage IV describes invasive breast cancer in which:the cancer has spread to other organs of the body -- usually the lungs, liver, bone, or brain"Metastatic at presentation" means that the breast cancer has spread beyond the breast and nearby lymph nodes, even though this is the first diagnosis of breast cancer. The reason for this is that the primary breast cancer was not found when it was only inside the breast. Metastatic cancer is considered stage IV.Additional staging information You may also hear terms such as "early" or "earlier" stage, "later," or "advanced" stage breast cancer. Although these terms are not medically precise (they may be used differently by different doctors), here is a general idea of how they apply to the official staging system:Early stageStage 0 Stage I Stage II Some stage III Later or advanced stageOther stage III Stage IVDoctors use a staging system to determine how far a cancer has spread. The most common system is the TNM staging system. You may hear the cancer described by three characteristics:size (T stands for tumor) lymph node involvement (N stands for node) whether it has metastasized (M stands for metastasis)The T (size) category describes the original (primary) tumor:TX means the tumor can't be measured or found. T0 means there isn't any evidence of the primary tumor. Tis means the cancer is "in situ" (the tumor has not started growing into the breast tissue). The numbers T1-T4 describe the size and/or how much the cancer has grown into the breast tissue. The higher the T number, the larger the tumor and/or the more it may have grown into the breast tissue.The N (node involvement) category describes whether or not the cancer has reached nearby lymph nodes:NX means the nearby lymph nodes can't be measured or found. N0 means nearby lymph nodes do not contain cancer. The numbers N1-N3 describe the size, location, and/or the number of lymph nodes involved. The higher the N number, the more the lymph nodes are involved.The M (metastasis) category tells whether there are distant metastases (whether the cancer has spread to other parts of body):MX means metastasis can't be measured or found. M0 means there are no distant metastases. M1 means that distant metastases were found.Once the pathologist knows your T, N, and M characteristics, they are combined in a process called stage grouping, and an overall stage is assigned.For example, a T1, N0, M0 breast cancer would mean that the primary breast tumor:is less than 2 centimeters across (T1) does not have lymph node involvement (N0) has not spread to distant parts of the body (M0)This cancer would be grouped as a stage I cancer. Email UpdatesStay informed about current research, online events, and more.Spam Control Text: Please leave this field empty Privacy PolicyVisit our Gift Shop!Shop Now » Getting Your Facts in Order Genetics and Family Background Chromosome Number, HER2 Status, and Oncogenes Non-Invasive or Invasive Breast Cancer? Rate and Grade of Cell Growth Lymph Node Involvement Are Hormone Receptors Present? Triple-Negative Breast Cancer How Big Is the Cancer? Has It Spread? Has Cancer Invaded Lymph or Blood Vessels? Margins of Resection Age; Recurrence; Whole Body Evaluations Stages of Breast Cancer Questions to Ask Your Doctors

Sharon, I shared your shock and dismay with my own dx.  I started out stage 0.  Biopsy suggested stage I.  Surgery jumped me right into stage III.  Although I am consider a 'b', I was only one lymph node away from being a 'c'.  Try to remember that it is just another arbitrary number.

This is my support group.

i'm definitely IIIC (they would have staged it IV years ago).

I've had a difficult couple years but have had 2 NED scans since my extensive treatment has ended.  Not knowing that it will stay away forever is mind boggling.   I will always always face the challenges of scanxieties and unsureties.  I really feel confident tho that even if it resurfaces, that it will be treatable.  I am so closely monitored. 

It's just different.  I will continue to work hard, be happy and live my life till it is done.. I always think as I'm driving down the street that I could be involved in a fatal wreck at any moment.. an airplane could fall out of the sky.  Somehow this comforts me.. knowing that I don't see an end from this cancer. 

Well, I know how you feel. When I was first diagnosed we thought Stage I because there seemed to be no lymph node involvement. Path after surgery showed 6 nodes, tumor 1.6 cm (plus a separate area of DCIS, .8cm). According to this site, that makes me Stage IIB. According to the ACS it makes me stage IIIA. I did not ask my onc how he stages me since I did not want to know. I call myself Stage II since I like the stats better but I have to admit I "connect" with the Stage III forum better. Chemo was not a gray area, rads was not a gray area, tamox and then switch to an AI is not a gray area. My treatment, my feelings, my fears are here.

The stats really don't matter - if you end up Stage IV, your risk was 100%, if you never do, your risk was 0%.

It is what it is.

Leah

If you go to the stage forum and look at those girls stats I don't see a ton of stage 3c's/ I see stage 1, 2, and 3.  To me I see so mnay people reoccure at less a stage.

There is stace 3c triple neg and stage 3 with er pos. There is your general health, your age, your ability to go thorugh all of your treatment, etc. So stage is one thing but these are also factors that play a bigger role in your diagnosis.

If we were diagnosed 3 years ago we would be stage 3a.

Remember 3 is just a number-you are not a number. Cancer is cancer and you HAD it-now your cancer free so consider yourself no stage right now!

I'm pretty sure I fit somewhere in here, I'm told I have a unique set of circumstances. After my first pet scan, my original diagnosis was stage IV. 5.8cm tumor. The 7 rounds of neoadjuvant TAC gave me lots of time to think/ research.. It also gave me a complete clinical response. At the time, I was so completely in the dark about the implications of a stage IV diagnosis. After my second pet scan, everyone was definitely excited.. It was clear. After my third pet scan came back with a CCR, my onc says, and this is verbatim, "maybe not even any surgery", I clung to that like a booger. It was almost a relief, in a sick sort of way, to be stage IV because I had a perfectly reasonable excuse for not having surgery ( I am absolutely 100% anti surgery), not to mention no cancer evident. Well it wasn't long before the surgeon chewed the ass of the onc for saying what he said without thinking, obviously there is no money in that route, but I believe he blurted out his honest reaction. Then suddenly without warning I became their 'problem patient' because I was asking questions and was not going to be railroaded. If I was looking at less than 5 years, I was not going to spend them traumatized from surgery. I had just turned 40.

18 months later, enter double edged sword.

My new onc has all of her own tests done on me.. another MRI, PET, X rays. Then she proceeds to tell me that what they had assumed was a lesion on the rib (hence the stage IV), has not been seen since, and that I did not have mets to the bone and was not a IV, but a IIIC. Good to know after 18 months!!! Surgery is next Wed. It's been so long now that I've pretty much guaranteed myself mets down the road. Surgery will not change that. My onc even told the surgeon not to remove the lymph nodes even though it was there, it'll just cause probs for me down the road. That to me right there says she's probably thinking the same thing about it being too late too.

Had I been given the correct dx the first time, it would have been done by now and I may have had a chance. It would seem being upgraded would be a good thing, just a little too late.. UUgg

I'm a 5 year survivor of stage IIIc and proud of it! I was originally told stage II prior to MRI pre-mast...then after mast and 15+ nodes, I was staged IIIC. I never asked about my prognosis. I just searched for the Onc who said she could save my life and have stuck with her ever since. I travel 3 hours each way for every appt and every test. During tx, that was pretty hard...but we do what we do. I still to this day don't know what the official book would have said my survival rate was, but I am my own statistic and never believed in lumping a bunch of women of all different ages and physical conditions into one stat. I was also dx'd with thyroid cancer after breast and am NED on both. Having the right doctors and treatment is what allows for survival of this horrid disease. Focus on living as best you can, its a much better ride than worrying about recurrence or mets. Do your tx as expected and just live!

Best wishes!

Hey Sharon,

I am writing this form a tiny library ( that has internet access) overlooking the turquois Caribbean

as I am here for the annual BC Ride for Hope!

Briefly , let me tell you my story.

Dxed  with Stage IIIC 12 pos nodes, er/pr negative, HER2 pos, in my ducts lobes, nipple.

oh yeah and no clean margins AFTER my mastectomy ( had a biospy, then part. mast THEN Mast) Super aggressive tumor, lots of head shaking, blah , blah blah.

and I am here and doing great! NED!!!

 Please remember staging is for tx purposes, and with a stage III we get the big guns!

I did 8 rounds of chemo, 35 rads, ( 4 fields) and herceptin. Also, did a prophl. on my lumpy other breast, and a bialteral recon. I am fune now.

There are lots of women out there that are busy living their lives.

You will be ok. come her often for accurate info, and great support.

Got to go now.

God Bless!

Linda

pupfoster1, I know I am speaking to you from the relative safety of stage 111A--but I want to point out to you anyway, that Grade 2 is GOOD and relatively rare for a stage 111er. and er+, pr+ HER2 negative is GOOD, these are favorable prognostic signs. Look below at the date of my diagnosis.

Sharon,  ratbait is right.  It's all about the treatment.  I saw my onc yesterday for my 3 month check up.  I thought I was going to have zometa, but he said not until the 6 month.  I told him was worried about a recurrance and he told me I "worry too much".  I talked to him about the pain I have and was afraid it's bone mets.  I think I exhasperate him.  He told me my bone pain is due to the Arimidex not bone mets but if I want him to do a scan he will do one but does not recommend one and would prefer not to. I said "well I was worried about mets to the bone and he said "Look you had the whole kitchen sink thrown at you with chemo. there is no bone mets. You worry too much."  So I guess I will have to trust him.  I did have the AC & T and zometa, and rads and the surgery, so I'm going to have to view the fact that I'm getting good treatment and hope for long term NED.

That's what this is all about I guess.  Trusting that your stage III won't progress further because of the kick ass treatment we're getting.

Jacqueline, thanks for reposting that. Gives me the shivers!

There are some stories you can never hear enough times.

Also remember the difference between 3a and 3 c stats wise is probably 10 people. Meaning if  70 out of 100 people beat stage 3 a around 60 beat it with 3c. That doesn't include zometa, aspirin, and exercise. Also, staging is for treatment reasons only it's how we respond to treatment that matters.