Stage 3 breast cancer marks an important stage in the treatment process. Please read the following article to learn about the survival rate and modern treatment methods related to this stage of the disease.

What is stage 3 breast cancer?

Stage 3 breast cancer is a condition in which the cancer has spread from where it started to nearby lymph nodes, but not to other parts of the body. Signs of this stage of cancer may include:

• The skin becomes thicker, looks like an orange peel, or is dimpled.
• The skin over the breast is damaged.
• A breast lump may be visible above the skin.
• The breast lump is very hard and does not move easily.
• The breast lump or the skin around the breast is red and hot, this is called inflammatory breast cancer.
• There may be a large lump under the armpit, which may be fixed or mobile.
• Sometimes a lump is also found in the neck.

Stage 3 breast cancer is also divided into three subtypes based on the size of the lump and where it has spread:

• Stage 3A: The breast lump is 2cm or smaller, has not spread far but has spread to nearby lymph nodes. Or the tumor may be larger than 2cm but smaller than 5cm and has spread to some lymph nodes. Or the tumor may be larger than 5cm and has spread to lymph nodes but the nodes are still mobile.
• Stage 3B: The tumor has spread to the skin and/or chest muscles, causing inflammation and may have spread to lymph nodes, whether they are mobile or not.
• Stage 3C: The tumor may be arbitrarily large, has spread to the larger lymph nodes under the collarbone and may have up to 10 affected nodes.

The differences between these three stages can affect how the cancer is treated and the prognosis. This helps doctors decide on the best treatment for each individual case, from surgery to other therapies.

Stage 3 breast cancer is advanced but still curable.

Is Stage 3 Breast Cancer Curable?

With advances in treatment methods such as surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and other advanced therapies such as hormone therapy or targeted therapy, the quality and effectiveness of cancer treatment have improved significantly. However, early detection is still the most important key to successful treatment.

Medical experts often consider stage 3 breast cancer to be advanced but still curable. The patient’s chances of recovery and treatment outcomes depend on many factors such as age, overall health, the patient’s response to treatment, and the size of the tumor.

According to the American Cancer Society, the five-year survival rate for stage 3 breast cancer is about 86 percent overall, but this rate varies depending on the specific stage: about 67 percent for stage 3A and 41 to 49 percent for stages 3B to 3C.

However, stage 3 breast cancer also faces a high risk of recurrence after treatment, and the prognosis is often less optimistic than earlier stages. But thanks to advances in medicine, many people still have a chance to beat the disease and live a healthy life.

Stage 3 Breast Cancer Treatments

• When it comes to treating stage 3 breast cancer, one of the most important things your doctor will consider is whether the tumor can be removed through surgery. If the tumor is resectable, this means that your doctor believes they can remove most or all of the tumor to help cure the disease. However, if surgery is not possible, meaning the doctor feels that it is not possible to remove all the cancer cells, they will move on to other treatments that do not require surgery.

Some of the main treatments for stage 3 breast cancer include:

• Surgery: Usually a mastectomy to remove cancerous tissue and nearby lymph nodes.
• Hormonal therapy: Used to slow or stop the growth of cancer cells that are stimulated by hormones.
• Chemotherapy: Using special drugs to kill rapidly growing cancer cells.
• Targeted therapy: Treatment that uses genes to precisely attack cancer cells without harming healthy cells.
• Radiation therapy: Applying radiation to kill cancer cells, often used after surgery to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back. This therapy is especially important for cases with a high risk of recurrence, such as large tumors, multiple tumors, or tumors that have spread to the skin and chest wall, as well as cases where the lymph nodes are affected.
• Immunotherapy: Stimulates the body’s immune system to kill cancer cells more effectively.

Is Inoperable Stage 3 Breast Cancer Treatable?

Although your doctor may say that stage 3C breast cancer is sometimes inoperable, this does not mean that there are no other options for treatment. “Inoperable” means that surgery alone cannot remove all of the cancer cells from the breast and surrounding tissue. This is because during surgery to remove the cancer, the doctor also needs to remove a small amount of healthy tissue around the tumor, called a “margin,” to make sure that no cancer cells are left behind.

To effectively remove breast cancer, it is necessary to make sure that the healthy tissue around the tumor is completely free of cancer cells, from the top near the collarbone down to the bottom of the breast. In some cases, after other treatments to shrink the tumor, surgery to remove the breast cancer may become possible. This means that even if surgery is not possible initially, with tumor shrinkage therapy, surgery can then be performed to remove the cancer.

Although stage 3 breast cancer has a high risk of recurrence and spread, disease control is still completely possible if a treatment plan is applied that is tailored to each individual, combined with the patient’s initiative. This means that, to achieve the best treatment results, patients need to be cared for at reputable hospitals, where there is a team of good and experienced doctors, along with advanced medical equipment.

Here, coordination between specialists such as Oncology, Endocrinology, Nutrition… is very important to be able to discuss together (consult) and plan the best treatment, helping to minimize complications, increase the chance of successful treatment and improve the patient’s survival rate.