Symptoms of Stage 3 breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, armpit or base of the neck, thickened, dimpled or ulcerated skin on the breast or a large red, swollen breast (this is called inflammatory breast cancer.
Stage 3 breast cancer symptoms
A lump or swelling in the breast or armpit. Nipple changes, such as a discharge (which can be clear or opaque, red, yellow or green), peeling or flaking, or an inverted or flattened nipple. Changes to the size or shape of the breast.
Stage 3B means the cancer has spread to the skin of the breast or the chest wall. The chest wall means the structures surrounding and protecting the lungs, such as the ribs, muscles, skin or connective tissues. The cancer has made the skin break down (an ulcer) or caused swelling.
Signs of Metastatic Breast Cancer
Common locations and symptoms include: Bone: Symptoms can include a severe new bone pain that gradually becomes constant. Bone metastases can also cause fractures. Brain: Signs can include headaches, nausea, facial numbness and changes in speech, vision or balance.
Chemotherapyis a common treatment for stage III breast cancer. Sometimes people have chemo before surgery to shrink a tumor and make it easier to remove. It can help destroy cancer cells that remain after surgery. In cases where surgery isn't an option, chemotherapy may be the main treatment.
stage 3 – the cancer is larger and may have spread to the surrounding tissues and/or the lymph nodes (or "glands", part of the immune system) stage 4 – the cancer has spread from where it started to at least 1 other body organ, also known as "secondary" or "metastatic" cancer.
Signs that breast cancer may have spread to the brain
Feeling sick (nausea) and being sick (vomiting) especially when waking in the morning. Weakness or feeling numb down one side of the body. Dizziness, unsteadiness or loss of balance and co-ordination.
The sentinel lymph node
When cancer spreads, the lymph node located closest to the original tumor (the sentinel node) is usually affected first. In breast cancer cases, the sentinel lymph node is often located in the underarm area.
Surgery first is an option for some women with stage III cancers. Because these tumors are fairly large and/or have grown into nearby tissues, this usually means getting a mastectomy. For women with fairly large breasts, BCS may be an option if the cancer hasn't grown into nearby tissues.
Stage IIIA is based on one of the following: With or without a tumor in the breast, cancer is found in four to nine nearby lymph nodes. A breast tumor is larger than 50 millimeters, and the cancer has spread to between one and three nearby lymph nodes.
Studies show that even though breast cancer happens more often now than it did in the past, it doesn't grow any faster than it did decades ago. On average, breast cancers double in size every 180 days, or about every 6 months.
The term stage 5 isn't used with most types of cancer. Most advanced cancers are grouped into stage 4. An exception is Wilms tumor, or nephroblastoma, a childhood cancer that originates in the kidneys. Stage 5 Wilms tumors are those that affect both kidneys.
You can have breast cancer without knowing it for several years, depending on how quickly it starts, grows, and spreads. Annually, almost 288,000 new breast cancer cases are diagnosed in the United States. More than half of these cancers are found before they spread beyond the breast.
But stage 3 cancer isn't a death sentence. Survival rates are improving, and researchers are continually discovering and testing new targeted drugs and immunotherapies.
Symptoms of Metastatic Breast Cancer
The symptoms can be back pain, shortness of breath, cough and fatigue. Some types, including triple negative breast cancer, can also spread to the brain. “The patient can experience headache, convulsions, changes in mood, and difficulty with speech or field of vision,” Habibi says.
Triple-negative breast cancers tend to grow and spread more quickly than other types of breast cancer. Because of this, triple-negative breast cancer is considered to be more aggressive than other forms of breast cancer.
Mastectomy for breast cancer treatment
A mastectomy may be a treatment option for many types of breast cancer, including: Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), or noninvasive breast cancer. Stages I and II (early-stage) breast cancer. Stage III (locally advanced) breast cancer — after chemotherapy.
A cancer that affects your hormone levels could cause fatigue. Certain cancers such as breast and prostate cancer can change the levels of hormones in your body. This can cause a number of side effects including fatigue.
Some breast cancers feel like distinct lumps or bumps in the tissue. Others feel like a “shelf” just beneath the skin. Some can be easily moved around under the surface.
Stage 3 cancer is considered advanced. In this stage, the tumor may have grown to a specific size, the cancer may consist of multiple tumors, and/or the cancer may have spread to adjacent lymph nodes, organs or tissue.
To metastasize, cancer cells break off from the primary tumor and travel through the blood or lymph to other organs. If someone is found to have cancer in their lymph nodes, it's usually a bad sign that the cancer has or will soon spread to other parts of the body. Most cancer deaths are caused by metastatic cancer.