Cancer Stages

Staging:
This step involves determining if the cancer has spread to another part of the body. If it is determined that the cancer hasn’t spread then a local treatment such as surgery or radiotherapy could get rid of the cancer completely.

Tumors (cancers) are classified according to three characteristics:
1. Anatomic site (place of the cancer in the body)
Cancers of body surfaces, cavities, and glands are called carcinomas.
Cancers of supportive or connective tissue such as muscle or bone are known as sarcomas.
Cancers of lymphatic tissue, bone marrow, and blood cells are called leukemias, lymphomas, and myelomas.

2. Grading (cancer cells analyzed in relation to what normal cells in the area look like)
Grade I: Cells differ slightly from normal cells.
Grade II: Cells are more abnormal than grade I cells.
Grade III: Cells are very abnormal and hard to differentiate.
Grade IV: Cells are immature, primitive, and undifferentiated. It is difficult to decide the origin of the cells.

3. Staging (the extent of the cancer)
Stage O: The cancer is located only in a precise tumor and is not invading the organ.
Stage I: The cancer is limited to the tissue or organ of origin.
Stage II: There is a limited, local spread of cancer.
Stage III: There is an extensive local and regional spread of cancer.
Stage IV: The cancer has spread (metastasized) to a distant part of the body.

Another way of describing the stage of Cancer, is through the “TRM System” explained below. The TRM staging explanation below, was taken from: http://www.cancerguide.org/basic.html

TNM Staging

In the TNM system, TNM stands for Tumor, Nodes, and Metastases. Each of these is categorized separately and classified with a number to give the total stage. Thus a T1N1M0 cancer means the patient has a T1 tumor, N1 lymph node involvement, and no distant metastases. Of course the definitions of T, N and M are specific to each cancer, but it is possible to give a general idea of what they mean.

T: Tumor

T Classifies the extent of the primary tumor, and is normally given as T0 through T4. T0 represents a tumor that has not even started to invade the local tissues. This is called "In Situ". T4 on the other hand represents a large primary tumor that has probably invaded other organs by direct extension, and which is usually inoperable.

N: Lymph Nodes

N classifies the amount of regional lymph node involvement. It is important to understand that only the lymph nodes draining the area of the primary tumor are considered in this classification. Involvement of distant lymph nodes is considered to be metastatic disease. The definition of just which lymph nodes are regional depends on the type of cancer. N0 means no lymph node involvement while N4 means extensive involvement. In general more extensive involvement means some combination of more nodes involved, greater enlargement of the involved nodes, and more distant (But still regional) node involvement.

M: Metastasis

M is either M0 if there are no metastases or M1 if there are metastases.

As with the other system, the exact definitions for T and N are different for each different kind of cancer.

As you can see, the TNM system is more precise than the I through IV system and certainly has a lot more categories. The two systems are actually related. The I through IV groupings are actually defined using the TNM system. For example, stage II non-small cell lung cancer means a T1 or T2 primary tumor with N1 lymph node involvement, and no metastases (M0).