YOUR CANCER YOUR LIFE – STAGES OF CANCER
Doctors have developed a sort of shorthand method for describing how extensive a cancer seems to be. We call this the stage of the cancer. For most cancers there are four stages. Here are the essential things which determine the stage of a cancer. I won’t go into details, but for each type there are carefully worked out rules.
Stage I cancer seems to be confined to the organ it started in. There must be no indication that it is even growing out of this organ directly into neighbouring tissues. There is only the one primary growth and, usually, this must be less than a certain size.
Stage II cancers have spread to the lymph nodes which normally drain the organ in which the cancer started. They have apparently not spread to more distant lymph nodes or through the blood. They must be confined within the nodes, not extending out of them to stick to each other or to neighbouring tissues like skin.
Stage IV cancers are those known to have already spread through the bloodstream.
The accuracy of the assessment of your stage of cancer obviously depends on how carefully you have been examined and tested. A cancer which seems to be Stage I when you have only been examined by the doctor may prove to be Stage IV after blood tests and X-rays. A cancer which seems to be only Stage II after extensive tests could still be found to actually be Stage IV when it is operated on and the surgeon can see inside.
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