I've always heard that there is cancerEarly, intermediate, and late stages, how is this morning, noon and evening divided? I've also heard from doctors about cancerPhase III and Phase IVAnd what does that mean? There are several stages of cancer, and how each stage is defined, is a question that is often difficult to answer for a while.
Although domestically and internationallyThere is no authority to staging those cancers professionally and early, noon and lateHowever, given that the early, noon, and late staging methods are easy to understand, there are conventions in the field. Today, let's take a look at some knowledge about cancer and tumor staging!
Why is cancer important to be staged?
Tumor staging is very important for cancer. One of the important reasons is that accurate tumor staging can enable doctors to make a comprehensive and objective assessment of the patient, which is not only conducive to the correct selection of the best plan, but also can roughly determine the prognosis of the patient, so that the patient can be well informed.
TNM staging system
The current common criteria for staging cancer is the TNM staging system. Most cancers are staged using the TNM system, and a small number of cancers are staged using special methods, such as blood cancers.
The three letters of TNM have different meanings.
t: Taken from the letter t in English (primary tumor) for primary tumorRepresents the size and extent of the major tumor, tx and t0 indicate that no major tumor was detected or found. Any number greater than 0 after t indicates that a major tumor has been found, and the higher the number, the larger the tumor. There are four kinds of representations: T1, T2, T3, and T4, and some cancers have more subdivided stages, which can be indicated by adding letters after numbers, such as T3A.
n: The letter n is taken from the English word (lymph node).Represents how many lymph nodes around the tumour have developed cancer. Nx and N0 indicate that no cancer was detected in the surrounding lymph nodes. N1, N2, N3 indicate the degree of cancer in the surrounding lymph nodes, and the higher the number, the deeper the degree.
m: Taken fromTransferThe letters m, mx, and m0 indicate that no metastases have been detected or have not occurred, and m1 indicates that the cancer has metastasized to a distant part of the body.
Digital staging
It is judged according to the degree and size of the tumor and whether there is local metastasis of lymph nodes and organs. Cancer is generally classified into four stages
Stage I: The tumor is localized in one place and shows no signs of spreading.
Stage II: The tumour has spread to nearby lymph nodes but has not spread to other organs or tissues.
Stage III: The tumour spreads to nearby organs or tissues in addition to nearby lymph nodes.
Stage IV: The tumor has spread to distant sites.