Breast cancer is a disease in which the cells in the breast grow out of control and form tumours in the breast. There isn’t any natural cure for breast cancer, but the treatment reduces, removes and slows the growth of cancer tumours in the body.
It is easy to treat breast cancer in its early stages, but when cancer spreads throughout your body, it becomes more challenging to treat it. After the spread of bread cancer, its treatment takes months to years. There are many lifestyle changes, therapies and medications that are proven to help control the symptoms of breast cancer.
Is stage II breast cancer curable?
The patients diagnosed with stage II breast cancer have primary cancer, which is in its early stage with a tumour of 2 to 5cm in the breast. In Stage II breast cancer, the cancer cells will not spread from the breast and lymph nodes to throughout the body.
Stage II breast can have two subcategories Stage IIA( no tumour or primary tumour in breast) and stage IIB(Tumor is between 2 to 5 cm in size).
Stage II breast cancer is curable with different treatment options such as radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, hormonal therapy, surgery, and many lifestyle changes. The treatment of Stage II breast can usually depend on age, health condition, category and menopausal status.
Is stage III breast cancer curable?
In stage III, breast cancer has spread beyond the tumour but hasn’t spread to the other organs; it is possibly reached from the breast to the lymph nodes and muscles. Relatively five years of survival is observed in 86% of patients with stage III breast cancer.
But due to advanced treatment, the survival rate is improving over time. Stage III breast cancer is curable, but the survival rate usually depends on several factors such as age, overall health, tumour size and cancer response to treatment.
Due to the spread of stage III breast cancer throughout the breast, it’s challenging to treat it. With aggressive treatment options, stage III breast cancer is curable, but the risk of coming back of cancer is high. Stage III breast can be curable with different treatment options such as radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, hormonal therapy and surgery.
Is stage IV(metastatic) breast cancer curable?
In stage IV (metastatic) breast cancer, cancer has spread throughout the body from the breast to different organs such as lungs, bones, brain, liver and many other body parts.
There is no cure currently found for stage IV breast cancer, but the possible treatment can help improve the survival rate and control the disease’s symptoms.
Women suffering from Stage IV breast cancer can be treated through regional or local treatments such as radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, hormonal therapy and surgery.
The treatment option can only slow the progression of cancer, improve the quality of life and elevate the symptoms of the disease. The survival rate of stage IV breast cancer is nearly 3 to 5 years, but the five years survival can only be noticeable in only 22% of patients.
Patients can get rid of this cancer from a specific part of the body, but getting rid of all cancer cells throughout the body is challenging.
The improvement in survival rate in stage IV breast cancer depends on the patient’s age, health condition, tissues that are affected by cancer and hormone receptors and HER2 receptors on cells with cancer.
Is Triple-negative breast cancer curable?
Triple-negative breast cancer is a type of breast cancer that is invasive and responsible for 15% of all breast cancer and can not be easily treated.
The triple-negative breast cancer tests negative for three main things HER2 protein, progesterone and estrogen. Breast cancer is more aggressive than other forms, and it is the most challenging breast cancer to treat, but doctors are trying to find ways to treat it more effectively.
Nearly 77% of women with triple-negative breast cancer survive after five years of diagnosis. It is more aggressive because it overgrows and spreads throughout the body, and there’s always a chance that it will come back even after treatment.
This cancer can be treated through radiation therapy, surgery, immunotherapy, chemotherapy and other medical treatments recommended by your doctor.
Reference list:
- https://www.cancer.org/cancer/breast-cancer/treatment/treatment-of-breast-cancer-by-stage/treatment-of-stage-iv-advanced-breast-cancer.html
- https://www.healthline.com/health/breast-cancer/prognosis-stage-3-breast-cancer#:~:text=Because%20stage%203%20breast%20cancer,back%20after%20treatment%20is%20high.
- https://www.healthline.com/health/breast-cancer/stage-2-breast-cancer
- https://www.healthline.com/health/breast-cancer/metastatic-prognosis
