What is the difference between stage and grade for breast cancers?
The stage of a breast cancer is a measure of how far it has progressed. So, a cancer that is small and confined to the breast is at an early stage, whereas one that has spread to many different parts of the body is at an advanced stage. Over the years doctors have worked out staging systems for all the different types of cancer. Some of these are quite simple whilst others are very complicated. Rather confusingly there are several different types of staging system for breast cancer. Although these vary in their details (and complexity) they all follow a similar pattern. One of the oldest, and simplest, staging systems for breast cancer has four stages, these are: • Stage 1 – the earliest stage, when the cancer is only in the breast and does not affect the skin overlying the breast • Stage 2 – the next stage, when the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm • Stage 3 – this is when the cancer involves the skin of the breast (whether or not it has spread to the lymph nodes und
