Physicians use a staging method to classify breast cancer diagnoses. This information allows them to choose the best treatment options based on the level and type of cancer. The stages are as follows:

• Stage 0. Includes carcinoma in situ (noninvasive cancer), intraductal carcinoma and lobular carcinoma in situ.
  
  
• Stage I. The tumor size is equal to or less than 0.8 inches across (2 centimeters [cm]) and has not spread.
  
  
• Stage II. Like Stage I, Stage II is considered an early stage of breast cancer. Tumors can range from less than 1 inch across (2 cm) to 2 inches across (5 cm). They may or may not have spread to the axillary lymph nodes (under the arm).
  
  
• Stage III. Locally advanced breast cancer. It has spread to the axillary lymph nodes or to tissues near the breast (such as the skin or chest wall). Tumors are larger than 2 centimeters.
  
  
• Stage IV. Metastatic cancer that has spread to other organs of the body. Frequent metastases sites for breast cancer are the bones, lungs, liver or brain. This is also the classification given to inflammatory breast cancer or breast cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes in the neck near the collarbone.

Although breast cancer in men is often caught in later stages than it is in women, the overall five-year survival rate is relatively high when diagnosed and treated early. For the earliest stages (Stages 0 and I), the normal survival rate is 98 percent. As the disease progresses, the survival rates drop to 88 percent for Stage II, 67 percent for stage II and 14 percent for Stage IV, according to the American Cancer Society.

Breast Cancer 5 Year Survival Rates