Stage II Breast Cancer

A stage II breast cancer diagnosis indicates that abnormal cells are present and growing. In some cases, cancerous cells may have spread to the lymph nodes, but have not progressed to other areas of the body. This stage is divided into stage IIA and stage IIB.

Stage IIA breast cancer is characterized by one of the following:

• Cancerous cells have spread to up to three nearby lymph nodes, but there is no tumor.
• Cancerous cells have spread to up to three nearby lymph nodes, and there is a small tumor up to two centimeters.
• Cancerous cells have not spread to the lymph nodes, but there is a small tumor between two and five centimeters.

Stage IIB breast cancer is characterized by one of the following:

• Cancerous cells have spread to up to three lymph nodes, and there is a small tumor between two and five centimeters.
• Cancerous cells have not spread to the lymph nodes, but there is a tumor larger than five centimeters.