Stage 2 Breast Cancer: Treatment, Timeline, Survival Rate

Stage 2 breast cancer means the cancer hasn’t spread beyond your breast tissue or nearby lymph nodes. The outlook for people with this diagnosis is good. The 5-year relative survival rate is 99%.Cancer isn’t a single disease. It’s a group of diseases, and breast cancer is no different. Because there are various types of breast cancer, not all stage 2 breast cancers are the same or involve the same treatment.This article explores how doctors define stage 2 breast cancer, along with treatment options and survival rates.What is stage 2 breast cancer?When you first receive a diagnosis of breast cancer, your doctor will assign a stage to your cancer. This is called clinical staging. It’s based on: a physical examimaging testsbiopsy resultsIf surgery is done to examine the breast tissue, laboratory test results on the tissue and lymph nodes can provide more information. Based on these results, your doctor can determine the cancer’s pathologic or surgical stage, which is more accurate than th...