Wisteria

Cancer Staging

The process of cancer diagnosis is based on some issues such as the dissemination of cancer cells from their source of origin, and the extend of the cancerous structure. These measurements guide the treatment and staging of them will correspond to a treatment method.

Knowing the stage of cancer can be a compass for determining the treatment method.

What Are The Main Components Of Cancer Staging System?

  • Localization that cancer started,
  • Amount and size of the cancerous tissue,
  • Metastatic status of cancer to lymph nodes or other tissues, are the main important factors that determines staging system.

How Cancer Disseminates In The Body?

Cancer cell-growth is different from normal cellular growth. It grows over time and spreads through the body by using different ways. Cancer cells can spread by capillaries to the body, by direct contact to surrounding tissues, or by lymphatics to distant sites.

Which Methods Are Used For Staging?

Cancer is diagnosed and staged by using clinical and pathological methods.

What Are The Cancer Stages?

First of all, it has to be mentioned that early diagnosis may play an important role in elimination of cancerous structure. There are different staging systems for categorizing the tumors. In TNM staging system, tumors are staged by 3 methods:

  • (T) explains the size and localization of tumor
  • (N) explains if cancer has spread to lymph nodes
  • (M) represents if cancer is metastatic and has spread to other parts of the body.

The T, N, and M systems categorize the cancer as stage 1, 2, 3, or 4. Stage 1 represents early cancers, and 4 represents advanced cancers.