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Cancer Treatment, Stages & Survival Rates of Breast Cancer.

By: Meng Y In women who have breast cancer which has not yet metastasized there is an average five-year survival rate of around 86%. What this means is that 86% of all women who contract breast cancer survive the disease for a minimum of five years. That number, though fairly high, is really just an average overall. In some categories the numbers are even greater. The numbers are dependant upon the stage at which individuals detect the cancer and seek treatment.

Just like other forms of cancer, individuals develop breast cancer in stages. Each stage is labeled with both a letter and a number. The cancer types are labeled based on a classification system that has become a cancer standard. These labels are (T, N, and MO and are scaled from 0-IV). A cancer that has been deemed A T is indicative of the cancers size, the N means that the cancer has spread to the individual's lymph nodes and M means distant metastasis. Metastasis means that a tumor is spreading from its primary location to secondary locations throughout the body forming the same tumor types in other locations.

Tumors that are labeled as TX are not able to be assessed. T0 means that no evidence of cancer exists. Tis means that the person in question has a cancer that could be one of three different cancer types: DCIS (ductal carcinoma situ), LCIS (lobular carcinoma in situ) or even Paget's disease. Paget's disease is an extremely rare cancer in which the nipple and/or areola itself is actually cancerous.

Cancers in Stage 0 are in the earliest possible stage. In cancers that are Stage I, the tumors are fewer than 2cm in size and have yet to spread. Stage II cancer means that a tumor has grown to 2-5cm in diameter, and Stage III tumors are larger than 5cm. If an individual has a tumor that is stage IV then it is attached to the chest wall, and has typically spread to the individual's lymph nodes.

Because of the advances in diagnosis and treatment techniques many individuals are able to catch their cancer and eliminate it in the earliest stages.

For women and men who are treated while their cancer is in Stage 0 or Stage I the chances of an individual surviving for five years is about 100%. Men are also capable of contracting breast cancer; the rate at which men can contract the disease is much less than women. Individuals suffering with Stage II cancers have survival rates ranging between 81% and 92%. The survival rate doesn't dip until you get to Stage III at which point the rate is around 67%. If an individual has Stage IV cancer it is about 20%.

Of course, many women and men do beat the odds. Even many of those in later stages survive significantly longer than seven years. As diagnostic techniques and treatment methods continue to improve the numbers do as well. As medical knowledge advances, more and more on the lower end of the category move into the upper reaches.

A new diagnostic technique is the QM-MSP (quantitative multiplex metylation-specific PCR). This technique was discovered in 2001, and it is a chemical test that utilizes the fluid from an individual's breast. It then analyzes the chemicals attached to specific genes. Cancer clumps that are as small as 50 cells can be detected with an 86% rate of reliability. These new methods make cancer detection extremely possible, improving the chances of treatments that are successful.

Treatments are also becoming better. Now available are hormone therapy, drugs that are molecule specific, and targeted radiation. These incredible methods are capable of saving the lives of tons of individuals.

Though never pleasant, and still a serious condition, breast cancer no longer has to be life threatening or even permanently scarring.

Article Source: http://www.lifeweightloss.com

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