Content provided by Cancer Therapy & Research Center Accurate
assessment of the extent of disease, or Stage, at the time of
diagnosis, is one determinant of prognosis or risk of future
recurrence of the cancer, and also determines ideal initial
treatment. Thus, the Stage of breast cancer only applies to the
extent of cancer at first diagnosis and the stage does not
change over time. Any recurrence of cancer after initial
treatment is simply called recurrence or metastasis. The Stage
of breast cancer can be a clinical stage, (the extent of breast
cancer as determined purely by examination of the patient at the
bedside or with basic mammograms or scans), or pathological
stage referring to the establishment of extent of the cancer
after surgery as determined by microscopic examination of the
tissue removed at surgery. For ideal standardization of the
Stage of most cancers, and breast cancer in particular, the
standard system (called the TNM system) uses the terms T for
extent of the primary tumor, N for the exte