| Stage 1 - Normal Duct |
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This is the appearance of the tube that travels from the breast lobule to the nipple. This passageway allows breast milk to travel from the lobule to the nipple where it is expressed. These are located throughout the breast which can be considered like a bicycle wheel with the spokes being the breast duct that all radiate towards the nipple. |
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| Stage 2 - Intraductal Hyperplasia |
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An abnormal increase in the number of cells lining the breast ducts. This is NOT a cancerous condition. |
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| Stage 3 - Intraductal Hyperplasia with Atypia |
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An abnormal increase in the number of cells lining the breast ducts. These cells do have an abnormal appearance. This is not a cancerous condition, but it is associated with an increased risk, over the general population, of developing a future breast cancer. |
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| Stage 4 - Intraductual Carcinoma in Situ |
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The cells within the breast duct are considered cancerous in this condition. However, they have not penetrated through the wall of the duct and thus, by excising this area, it is curable. This condition frequently presents itself as calcifications on the mammogram. |
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| Stage 5 - Invasive Ductal Cancer |
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The cancerous cells have now broken through the wall of the breast duct. These cells have the characteristic of being able to spread and invade. Thus, they have the ability to grow in the breast to make a tumor, or to break of and form metastasis in other parts of the body. |
