Staging means how big the cancer is and whether it has spread. Grading means how abnormal the cancer cells look under a microscope. There are different systems used in the UK to stage breast cancer. The most common one is the TNM system. Another is the number staging system. The number staging system divides breast cancers into 4 stages, from 1 to 4.
Grading of invasive breast carcinoma: the way forward | SpringerLink
Classifying your breast cancer by stage helps predict your chance of cure and helps identify the best treatment options for your particular cancer. After discovering that you have breast cancer, your doctor will decide what additional tests may be helpful to find out if the disease has spread outside the breast. Called breast cancer staging, this process provides information about the extent of the disease. Your breast cancer stage helps your doctor determine which treatments are most likely to benefit you. The stages of breast cancer are indicated using Roman numerals ranging from 0 to IV, with 0 indicating cancer that is noninvasive or contained within the milk ducts.
Breast cancer classification divides breast cancer into categories according to different schemes criteria and serving a different purpose. The major categories are the histopathological type, the grade of the tumor, the stage of the tumor, and the expression of proteins and genes. As knowledge of cancer cell biology develops these classifications are updated. The purpose of classification is to select the best treatment.
Skip to Content. Have questions about breast cancer? Ask here.