Early Stage Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is described as early stage when it is likely to be cured with standard therapy. The term "early stage" is vague, and two doctors may define it differently. But most doctors consider Stage I and Stage II breast cancer to be early stage breast cancer. These are cancers which are not larger than 5 cm and which have limited spread to the lymph nodes.

The overall cure rate for patient with stage I breast cancer averages about 85%. The overall cure rate for patients with stage II breast cancer averages about 66%.

The three different treatments commonly used for

breast cancer are surgery, drug therapy, and radiation therapy

. Surgery is used to remove the visible cancer and to inspect the lymph nodes in the armpit area (the axilla). After surgery, drug therapy and radiation therapy may be used to prevent the cancer from coming back.