Current Medical Treatment for Stage I and Stage II Breast Cancer

Anyone who has been diagnosed with Stage I or Stage II breast cancer should take some comfort in knowing that these two stages are considered early stages and that the treatment for each of them is generally less aggressive than for the advanced stages. Of course, every person and every cancer is unique, but early detection and early diagnosis are definite advantages when it comes to treatment and survival.

A Stage I diagnosis for breast cancer means that there is no lymph node involvement detected and that the cancer is contained within the breast tissue. This diagnosis also implies that the tumor itself is smaller than 2 cm across. Because of the small size of the tumor and the lack of lymph node involvement, most women choose to have a lumpectomy, which is a surgical procedure that removes the tumor and the tissue that surrounds it. Some women, however, do choose to have a modified radical mastectomy, which removes the entire breast (including the skin, the areola, and the nipple), as well as most of the axillary lymph nodes (lymph nodes found under the arm).

Although Stage II breast cancer can mean a bigger tumor (2 cm to 5 cm across) and/or some lymph node involvement, the surgical options are the same as they are for Stage I. Depending on the size of the tumor, a woman will generally have a lumpectomy or a modified radical mastectomy. Sentinel lymph nodes (the nodes closest to the tumor) will also be removed during a lumpectomy for either stage. (This lymph node removal has to be done to see if the cancer has spread beyond the breast tissue. It is important to remember that breast cancer is usually not classified into a particular stage until after surgery and the subsequent examination of extracted tissues.)

Following the lumpectomy (but only occasionally following a modified radical mastectomy), most women will undergo radiation treatments which are designed to kill any cancer cells that remain in the breast tissue. It is also not uncommon for women with Stage I or Stage II breast cancer to undergo chemotherapy treatments, which attempt to use medication(s) to prevent the cancer from returning. If the woman’s breast cancer is found to be hormone dependent, meaning that it uses estrogen to promote its growth, then hormonal therapy will likely be included in post-surgical treatments to prevent the cancer cells from having access to the estrogen.

Another treatment option that some doctors are choosing for their early-stage breast cancer patients includes a biological therapy that targets a certain protein (HER2) that some cancers feed on to grow faster. It has been found that about 25 percent of women who have breast cancer have this type of HER2-dependent cancer. Just as hormonal therapy blocks the cancer’s access to estrogen, this biological therapy blocks the cancer’s access to this particular protein, slowing its growth and its migration to other areas in the body (metastasis). Originally this therapy was targeted for those with advanced breast cancer, but it has recently been found to be effective with early stage breast cancers as well, especially when used in conjunction with chemotherapy.