What is locally advanced breast cancer?
Locally advanced breast cancer is breast cancer that has one or more of the following features:
- may be large (typically bigger than 5cm)
- may have spread to several lymph nodes in the armpit (axilla) or other areas near the breast
- may have spread to other tissues around the breast such as the skin, muscle or ribs.
However, there are no signs that the cancer has spread beyond the breast region or to other parts of the body.
About 13,000 women and 100 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in Australia. About 10–20 per cent of these cases are locally advanced breast cancer.
