We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Why trust us?
Here’s an overview on what you need to know about stages, symptoms, treatment and survival rates for this mid-stage cancer.
If you’ve been diagnosed with stage II breast cancer (also sometimes written out as stage 2), or know someone who has, you likely have a million questions swirling around your head — but the first one may be, “What does stage II mean?” The most important thing you should know is this: “Any diagnosis of cancer is scary, but stage II breast cancer is a very curable disease,” says Anne Larkin, MD, a breast surgeon at UMass Memorial Health in Worcester, MA.
The staging of the cancer is based on several factors, and it helps your medical team advise you about the best course of treatment and provide you with a realistic prognosis, says Dr. Larkin.
Note: Every person and case is different. While this is an overview of stage II breast cancer, it’s important to ask your doctor and their team any questions you have about your diagnosis, treatment and aftercare. Your mental health is also especially important during this time. Reach out to your physician for a referral to a licensed mental health professional to help support you if needed.
Breast cancer has traditionally been classified in five stages, from 0 to IV, based on how large the tumor is and how far it has spread in the rest of your body. Stage 0 generally means you have noninvasive cancer or pre-cancer that has not moved outside the breast; as you go up the scale, the tumor generally gets larger and the cancer becomes more invasive— all the way to Stage IV, which means the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, such as the liver, bones or brain.
“Breast cancer stages have historically been based on three different factors,” Dr. Larkin. explains. “The first is the size of the tumor, the second is whether or not the tumor has metastasized to any lymph nodes and the third is whether the tumor has spread to any other places in the body, which is known as metastatic breast cancer.” This staging system is known as TNM, for Tumor, Nodes and Metastasis.
Stage II breast cancer is broken down further into stage IIA and IIB, with these criteria:
Stage IIA:
• Either there is no tumor found in the breast, or there is a tumor up to 2 cm (about the size of a grape) AND cancer has spread to 1 to 3 lymph nodes
• There is a tumor of 2 to 5 cm (the size of a lime), but the cancer has NOT spread to the lymph nodes
Stage IIB:
• There is a tumor of 2 to 5 cm, AND cancer has spread to between 1 and 3 lymph nodes
• There is a tumor larger than 5 cm, but cancer has NOT spread to the lymph nodes or reached the chest wall or skin.
What else do I need to know about cancer staging?
The traditional 0-IV staging of breast cancer based on the TNM system, which was developed in the 1940s, gives us lots of helpful information, but it doesn’t tell the entire story. So in 2016, the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) added new criteria that takes into account the biologic profile of the tumor and considers patterns of recurrence, sensitivities to different treatments and prognoses. Combined with TNM staging, this provides a much more detailed picture of your cancer. “This staging considers all kinds of other things about a tumor,” says Dr. Larkin. “The way I describe it to patients is: Are the cells happy, are they really aggressive-looking or are they somewhere in between? This really helps us look at which therapies the patient may need.”
This more detailed method of staging cancer means there are more nuances to a stage II diagnosis, adds Jessica Maxwell, MD, a surgical oncologist at Nebraska Medicine. “We may now look at something that we would have traditionally called stage II breast cancer, but if it has a favorable biologic profile, it may get downstaged to something that we would have called a stage I breast cancer based on the size. On the other hand, if a cancer that would have been a stage I has a more worrisome biologic profile, it might get upstaged to stage II.”
Biologic factors included in the staging now include:
Symptoms of breast cancer can include:
But Dr. Larkin points out that in the case of Stage II breast cancer, there may be no symptoms at all — which is why it is so important to get your annual mammogram.
Note: The CDC has a program called the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, designed to make sure that women who are uninsured, under-insured and low-income get access to screening for breast cancer, as well as diagnostic and treatment help. The program’s interactive map lets you click on your state to get local information.
What are the treatments for stage II breast cancer?
The treatments for stage II cancer depend not only on the tumor size and its biologic markers, but also your age, overall health and personal preferences. “There are usually multiple modalities of treatment — one treatment in and of itself is usually not enough,” says Dr. Maxwell. “The goal of the treatment is to, number one, get rid of the tumor, and number two, prevent it from coming back as much as possible.” The plan will involve some combination of the following:
If you are diagnosed with stage II breast cancer, you have an excellent chance of being cured and living a long and healthy life. According to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the five-year survival rate for stage II is 90-99%.
“I always tell patients that there are certain things that we have to do to get the cancer treated. but overall, the goal for treatment for stage II breast cancer is to be disease-free and to live a long and healthy life afterwards — and there is a very excellent chance that that can happen,” says Dr. Maxwell.