After surgery, the pathology report will provide information for
staging the cancer. Staging identifies how advanced the cancer
is, and thus helps determine whether you'll need further
treatment after surgery and predicts the outlook for a cure. As
well, staging allows physicians from around the world to compare
and contrast the results of treatments. Without a staging
system, there would be no meaningful comparisons among different
centers that treat patients with breast cancer. In the past,
staging was denoted by the letters A, B, C and D. However,
today, staging is done with the TNM system: - T Stage Refers to
the size of the primary tumor - N Stage Refers to whether the
cancer has spread to the draining lymph nodes - M Stage Refers
to whether the cancer has spread to areas away from the breast
(for example, the liver, bones or brain) Every cancer, including
breast cancer, is classified with the TNM system. Because the
TNM criteria can differ greatly, they can be further staged as
follows. Stage O: Carcino