Understanding your breast cancer diagnosis
The pieces that make up a diagnosis
The short version
Your diagnosis is usually made up of several parts: the type of cells involved, the stage, the grade, and biomarker results like ER, PR, and HER2. Together, these help your care team recommend a treatment plan.
Hearing "you have breast cancer" can make everything else in the sentence hard to take in. It can help to know that a full diagnosis is usually built from several distinct pieces, gathered over more than one appointment or test — you are not expected to understand all of it at once.
The pieces of a diagnosis
- Type — the kind of cells involved, such as or
- Stage — how far the cancer has spread, from 0 to IV
- Grade — how different the cancer cells look from normal cells
- Biomarkers — , , and results
- Genetic factors — whether an inherited gene change may be involved
It is common to get pieces of this picture at different times — a biopsy result first, then surgical findings, then full biomarker results. Your care team can help you keep track of what is confirmed and what is still pending.
Questions you may want to ask
What is my full diagnosis, including type, stage, and grade?
Which parts of my diagnosis are confirmed, and which are still pending?
Where can I see this written down so I can refer back to it?