How is staging of breast carcinoma?

➢ measure of the extent of tumor at the time of diagnosis and is important for all biologic types of carcinoma. ➢ It is based on features of the primary tumor (T), involvement of regional lymph nodes (N), and the presence of distant metastases (M) ➢ The AJCC/UICC staging system, classifies tumors as T1, T2, and T3 based on the tumor size, whereas T4 tumors have ulceration of the skin, involvement of the deep muscles of the chest wall, or are clinically diagnosed as inflammatory carcinoma. ➢ The majority of cancers first metastasize to regional nodes, and nodal involvement is a very strong prognostic factor ➢ Lymphatic drainage goes to one or two sentinel lymph nodes in the axilla in most patients. ➢ If these nodes are not involved, the remaining axillary nodes are usually free of carcinoma. ➢ Sentinel node biopsy has become the standard for assessing nodal involvement, replacing more extensive lymph node dissections, which are associated with significant morbidity. ➢ Distant metastases (M) are only detected in 5% of newly diagnosed women. ➢ Stage 0 is CIS, which is associated with survival rates greater than 95%.