Stages of breast cancer

Once the diagnosis of breast cancer is established and before the optimal therapy can be identified, the doctor will ‘stage’ the cancer. This entails performing some tests beyond that of a good clinical examination to see if the tumour has spread (metastasised) to any other organ.

 

In some very early forms of breast cancer, and DCIS is one such form, the staging is minimal but in patients who present with larger invasive primary breast cancers then the staging will involve bone scanning, chest radiography and liver ultrasound. PET scanning, a functional form of imaging, will almost certainly find its way into staging in the next decade. Other tests will be individualised according to clinical/individual circumstances.