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Here is an excellent web site which explains the stages plus will assist in answering many of your questions. Healthcare professionals use this site often.
http://medlineplus.gov/
The most common system used to describe the stages of cancers is the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM system. This staging system classifies cancers based on their T, N, and M stages:
T stands for tumor (its size and how far it has spread within the breast and to nearby organs).
N stands for spread to lymph nodes (bean-shaped collections of immune system cells that help fight infections and cancers).
M is for metastasis (spread to distant organs).
Detailed Guide: Breast Cancer
How Is Breast Cancer Staged?
Cancers are divided into different groups, called stages, based on whether the cancer is invasive or non-invasive, the size of the tumor, how many lymph nodes are involved, and whether there is spread to other parts of the body. Staging is the process of finding out how widespread a cancer is when it is diagnosed. The stage of a cancer is the most important factor in considering treatment options. A staging system is a standardized way for the cancer care team to summarize information about how far a cancer has spread.
Depending on the results of your physical exam and biopsy, your doctor may want you to have certain imaging tests such as a chest x-ray, mammograms of both breasts, bone scans, and computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. (All are discussed in the section, “Imaging Tests to Detect Breast Cancer Spread.”) Blood tests to evaluate your overall health and help detect whether the cancer has spread to certain organs may also be done.
The 2002 American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM System
The most common system used to describe the stages of cancers is the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM system. This staging system classifies cancers based on their T, N, and M stages:
T stands for tumor (its size and how far it has spread within the breast and to nearby organs).
N stands for spread to lymph nodes (bean-shaped collections of immune system cells that help fight infections and cancers).
M is for metastasis (spread to distant organs).
The stage of a breast cancer can be based on the results of physical exam and imaging tests (called clinical stage) or on the results of these and surgery (called pathologic stage). The approach to staging used here is based on the pathologic stage, the findings after surgery, when the pathologist has looked at the breast mass and lymph nodes.
Additional letters or numbers appear after T, N, and M to provide more details about the tumor, lymph nodes, and metastasis:
The letter T followed by a number from 0 to 4 describes the tumor’s size and spread to the skin or to the chest wall under the breast. Higher T numbers indicate a larger tumor and/or wider spread to tissues near the breast.
The letter N followed by a number from 0 to 3 indicates whether the cancer has spread to lymph nodes near the breast and, if so, how many lymph nodes are affected.
The letter M followed by a 0 or 1 indicates whether the cancer has spread to distant organs, for example, the lungs or bones, or to lymph nodes that are not next to the breast, such as those above the collarbone.
Stage IIA: T0, N1, M0 / T1, N1, M0 / T2, N0, M0: No tumor is found in the breast but it is in 1 to 3 axillary lymph nodes; or the tumor is less than 2 cm and has spread to 1 to 3 axillary lymph nodes; or cancer is found by sentinel node biopsy as microscopic disease in internal mammary nodes, but not on imaging studies or by clinical exam; or the tumor is larger than 2 cm in diameter and less than 5 cm, but hasn’t spread to axillary nodes. In all cases the cancer has not spread to distant sites.