The staging system most often used for breast cancer is the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM system. The most recent AJCC system, has both clinical and pathologic staging systems for breast cancer.
Description of breast cancer staging
| Stage | Description |
| Noninvasive | |
| 0 | No evidence of cancer cells or invasion of the basement membrane of the duct or neighbouring normal tissue; includes ductal carcinoma in situ |
| Invasive | |
| IA | • Tumour ≤ 2 cm AND • No spread outside the breast; no lymph nodes involved |
| IB | • No tumour in the breast, but microscopic metastases (> 0.2 mm but ≤ 2 mm) present in axillary lymph nodes OR • Tumour present in the breast, ≤ 2 cm, with involvement of lymph nodes |
| IIA | • No tumour in the breast, but macroscopic cancer (> 2 mm) in 1–3 axillary lymph nodes OR • Tumour ≤ 2 cm, with spread to axillary lymph nodes OR • Tumour > 2 cm but ≤ 5 cm, with no spread to axillary lymph nodes |
| IIB | • Tumour > 2 cm but ≤ 5 cm, with spread to 1–3 axillary lymph nodes OR • Tumour > 5 cm, with no spread to axillary lymph nodes |
| IIIA | • No tumour in the breast or presence of a breast tumour of any size associated with metastases in 4–9 axillary lymph nodes or in internal mammary nodes OR • Tumour > 5 cm, with spread to axillary and/or internal mammary nodes |
| IIIB | • Tumour of any size, with spread to chest wall and/or skin of the breast; may also have spread to axillary or internal mammary nodes |
| IIIC | • Tumour of any size, with spread to ≥ 10 axillary lymph nodes OR • Spread to lymph nodes above or below the collarbone (supraclavicular nodes) OR • Spread to both axillary lymph nodes and internal mammary nodes |
| Metastatic | |
| IV | Spread of cancer to other parts of the body such as liver, lung or bone |
Add to stages
- Estrogen Receptor (ER) status
- Progesterone Receptor (PR) status
- HER2 status
- Grade of the cancer (G)
References:
- Simos D, Catley C, van Walraven C, Arnaout A, Booth CM, McInnes M, Fergusson D, Dent S, Clemons M. Imaging for distant metastases in women with early-stage breast cancer: a population-based cohort study. CMAJ. 2015 Sep 8;187(12):E387-97. [Medline]
- Zhu H, Doğan BE. American Joint Committee on Cancer’s Staging System for Breast Cancer, Eighth Edition: Summary for Clinicians. Eur J Breast Health. 2021 Jun 24;17(3):234-238. [Medline]
Created Jul 14, 2022.
