Breast cancer stage: 1 and Treatment Options

Breast cancer stage: Stage 1

Stage 1 of breast cancer is diagnosed when the primary tumor is 2 centimeters or less and the lymph nodes are not affected until now. At the stage, 1B if cancer found in axillary lymph nodes and there is no tumor in breast or tumor is smaller than 2 centimeters. 1A and 1B are recognized as early stages of invasive breast cancers. in both of the stages, surgery and some other therapies are recommended.

Surgery

At stage 1 both lumpectomy and mastectomy are prescribed, a base of decisions could be:

1. Size and location of primary tumor
2. Patient’s preference
3. Genetic history 
4. and others.

Biopsy of lymph nodes can be performed at the same time. For Mastectomy, reconstruction of the breast can begin immediately or after completion of additional treatment.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy is common procedure after surgery of stage 1, but it could not be a chosen for the women older than 70 years, especially in those cases when hormone therapy could take place.
Hormone therapy
Doctors may prescribe hormone therapy for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, discounting tumor size.

Chemotherapy

When breast cancer is negative for ER, PR, and HER2, it is recognized as triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). As there is no targeted treatment for TNBC, Chemotherapy uses as a single option. Alternative therapy Herception is also often prescribed in HER+2 cases.