Breast cancer mortality rate stage 2

In the last decade, there has been a revolutionary change in how breast cancer is being treated. Nowadays, people have more knowledge of the signs, symptoms, diagnostic procedures, and treatments. All this information gives the patients an insight into their health status. Moreover, an on-time intervention can prevent the disease from getting out of hand. Stage 2 of breast cancer is commonly diagnosed in women aged below 45. Stage 2 breast tumor feels like a hard mass with rough edges. The diameter of the cancer lump at this stage falls between the range of 2 to 5 centimeters.

In most stage 2 breast cancer cases, as the tumor starts proliferating, lymph node involvement is seen. However, there are reported cases where only a lump is present without any changes in the breast’s nearby lymph nodes. The invasiveness of breast cancer is one major factor that influences the survival rates and mortality rates. The breast cancer mortality rate stage 2 is reported to be around 5 to 10 percent.

At this stage of breast cancer, the cancer cells can spread or start the process of metastasis. Yet, the tumor cells are restricted within the breast tissue and nearby lymph nodes. Stage 2 breast cancer is invasive. It is essential to understand that metastasis and invasiveness of a tumor are different. The metastasis usually starts at stage 4 of breast cancer. In contrast, cancer’s invasiveness means that the cancerous cells have broken out of the place where cancer initially started growing.

Despite the stage 2 cancer’s invasiveness, the breast cancer mortality rate stage 2 is not more than 10 percent. Moreover, stage 2 is divided into two substages.

Stage 2A

The breast cancer stage 2A manifests itself in three ways:

• There might be no tumor presence within the breast. Yet, there is axillary lymph node involvement. There are less than four lymph nodes involved, and cancerous cells are seen in the lymph nodes.
• Stage 2A can also present as having a tumor less than 2 centimeters with less than four axillary lymph nodes.
• There are also chances that there is only a breast lump measuring between two to five centimeters with zero breast lymph node involvement.

Stage 2B

Stage 2B is a more dangerous type of cancer out of the two subtypes. In this breast cancer subtype, either there is a tumor ranging from 2 to 5 centimeters along with lymph node infestation of less than four lymph nodes, or there is only a solitary tumor found in the breast with a size of more than 5 centimeters and no infestation of tumor cells in the lymph nodes.

Various factors can affect the patient’s survivability and eventually increase the breast cancer mortality rate stage 2 and stage 3 and 4. The factors include the patients having a low socioeconomic status, a low-income occupation, and reside in rural areas. An educated patient seeks knowledge of the symptoms, has better health awareness, and follows the treatment guidelines. A person with a low income or someone living in rural areas shows increased breast cancer mortality rates.

TNM staging for stage 2 breast cancer

The TNM system is used to describe the cancer stage in detail. T represents the size of the tumor. The T score at stage 2 starts from zero to three.

• T0 means that the tumor is undetectable.
• T1 has tumors with a diameter of not more than 2 centimeters.
• T2 has tumors ranging from 2 to 5 centimeters.
• T3 denotes the tumor is bigger than five centimeters.

The N in the TNM system highlights the lymph node involvement.

• N0 means that the cancer is not found in the lymph nodes.
• Nmi tells that the cancer cells have started to move to the lymph nodes but are only visible under a microscope. This initial spread of cancer cells is called micrometastasis.
• N1 represents that the cancer cells have infested at least one of the nearby lymph nodes.

M denotes whether there is metastasis or not during cancer. Fortunately, all of the stage 2 cancer types are M0. This means that there is no metastasis.

Treatment for stage 2 breast cancer

Although the breast cancer mortality rate stage 2 ranges from one to ten percent. It is still necessary to get treatment as soon as possible as the invasive stage 2 cancer can worsen if left unchecked. Your doctor might recommend several tests and examinations to understand as well as establish an accurate diagnosis. The treatments are somewhat similar to stage 1. There are three types of medicines, which are listed below:

• Local treatments: Depending on the tumor cells spread, a lumpectomy (a breast area along the tumor is removed) or mastectomy (complete breast removal) is performed. After a successful surgery, radiation therapy is conducted to get rid of any remaining cancer cells.
• Systemic treatments: Chemotherapy or hormonal therapy is recommended under systemic therapies. However, these therapies are only advised after extensive evaluation because the therapeutics kill the healthy cells and cancerous cells. The overall health is severely affected by such treatments.
• Neoadjuvant treatment: This treatment is advised only when the tumor size is massive. These treatments target the tumor and shrink cancer for more comfortable surgery with minimum breast tissue loss.

According to the American Cancer Society, patients who have completed their respective breast cancer treatments have a breast cancer mortality rate of stage 2 of seven percent. One thing that should be clear that these statistics are estimations. Breast cancer is not a simple disease. There are numerous factors involved that might aggravate cancer or may help prevent it. An effective way is to talk to your healthcare provider, discuss the appropriate diagnostic methods, and comply with healthy living advice.

Interesting in more about Breast cancer mortality rate stage 2?

We hope you found the article on Breast cancer mortality rate stage 2. For more information, you can find the following articles:

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