Prevention & Screening  Screening
The American Cancer Society recommends that all women over the age of 40 have regular breast exams and mammograms.
The frequency of such examinations and the specific age at which screening should begin depend upon an individual's risk factors for breast cancer, including personal and family medical histories.
Screening may include:
- The documentation of your personal and family medical histories
- A physical examination
- Radiologic studies, such as mammography, breast ultrasonography and breast MRI
Are You Eligible for a FREE Mammogram? Click here to find out more.
All mammography technicians at Columbia University Medical Center's Clinical Breast Cancer Program are women who concern themselves with your comfort.
| STAGES OF BREAST CANCER |
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Stage 0 (early stage):
Includes findings of DCIS or Paget’s disease, but no actual tumor. |
Stage I (early stage):
Tumor no more than 2 cm across, with no spread to lymph nodes. |
Stage II (early stage):
Tumor 2 to 5 cm across, and cancer has spread to underarm lymph nodes. |
Stage IIA:
Tumor less than 2 cm with lymph node involvement, or cancer between 2 and 5 cm with no lymph node involvement. |
Stage IIB:
Tumor larger than 2 cm with lymph node involvement. |
Stage III:
Also called locally advanced cancer, tumor larger than 5 cm, with extensive cancer in underarm lymph nodes, or that has spread to other lymph node areas or tissues near the breast (such as above or below the clavicle). |
Stage IIIA:
Tumor larger than 5 cm with involvement of underarm lymph nodes.
Any tumors fitting the description above. |
Stage IIIB:
As in IIIA, and associated with chest wall or skin involvement, or with spread to lymph node above the clavicle.
| | Stage IV: Cancer has spread to another organ in the body (also called metastatic cancer). |
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