BI-RADS 4 ≠ stage IV of cancer!

Dear friends, please , do not confuse between BI-RADS 4 breast imaging category and stage IV of cancer

BI-RADS is NOT a stage of cancer; it is a BI-RADS category (Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System), indicating a suspicious finding during breasts' imaging (mammography, ultrasonography), those require a biopsy to determine if cancer is present.

Unlike cancer stages (stages I, II, III, or IV), those describe the extent of cancer, that has already been diagnosed and confirmed during histology examination, BI-RADS categories are used in breast imaging to assess a possibility of breast's malignancy in a detected abnormality.

A BI-RADS 4 result means, that a radiologist found an abnormality that is suspicious enough to recommend next investigation (biopsy) to determine if the abnormality is benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous).

BI-RADS category covers a range of cancer probabilities (from 2% to 95%) and is subclassified as:

- BI-RADS 4A (low suspicion),

- BI-RADS 4B (moderate suspicion),

- BI-RADS 4C (high suspicion).

So, BI-RADS 4 is NOT a cancer stage, but it is a PRELIMINARY finding in the diagnostic process, whereas cancer staging (ex., stage IV) is a determination made AFTER cancer diagnosis to understand it's spread.

BI-RADS 4 ≠ stage IV of cancer

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#BIRADS #cancerstage #breastcancer