Stage II Breast Cancer

Scripture of the Day:

Matthew 8: 16

And when evening was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed devils: and he cast out the spirits with His word; and healed all that were sick.

The following was taken from a website. It describes stage II of breast cancer. I struggle trying to decide if I should capitalize the B and C and give this disease more importance it deserves or make it lower case because I'm trying to make it mean so little. I have known friends with stage II and they are doing well. I just can enough about early detection. The link to this website is at the end.

Stage II breast cancer

Stage II breast cancer indicates a slightly more advanced form of breast cancer. At this stage, the cancer cells have spread beyond the original location and into the surrounding breast tissue, and the tumor is larger than in stage I disease. However, stage II means the cancer has not spread to a distant part of the body.

At stage II, a tumor may be detected during a breast self-exam as a hard lump within the breast. Breast self-exams and routine screening are always important and can often lead to early diagnosis, when the cancer is most treatable.

Types of stage II breast cancer

Stage II is divided into two categories:

At stage IIA, one of the following is true:

There is no tumor within the breast but cancer has spread to the axillary (underarm) lymph nodes, or

The tumor in the breast is 2 cm or smaller and cancer has spread to the axillary lymph nodes, or

The tumor in the breast measures 2 - 5 cm but cancer has not spread to the axillary lymph nodes

At stage IIB, one of the following is true:

The tumor measures 2 - 5 cm and cancer has spread to the axillary lymph nodes, or

The tumor is larger than 5 cm but cancer has not spread to the axillary lymph nodes

The survival rate for stage IIA breast cancer may be slightly higher than for stage IIB. However, all women with stage II breast cancer are considered to have a good prognosis.

TNM

At stage II, TNM designations help describe the extent of the disease. Most commonly, stage II breast cancer is described as:

T: T1, T2, T3 or T4, depending on the size and/or extent of the primary tumor.

N1: Cancer has spread to the lymph nodes

M0: The disease has not spread to other sites in the body

Stage II Breast Cancer

If you are making this journey as I am, may God bless you with His healing touch. I know He loves you.