Читать книгу The Cancer Directory - Dr. Daniel Rosy - Страница 88

Determining how far a cancer has spread is a critical starting point before deciding on treatment. There are several systems available and this often causes confusion, even among doctors.

One of the most commonly used staging systems is the TNM system, developed by a committee of the International Union Against Cancer. Here, the letter T stands for ‘tumour’, with T₁ referring to a small tumour and T₄ referring to a very large one.

The N stands for ‘nodes’, the lymph nodes draining the organ in which the tumour is found. Enlarged nodes containing growing tumours are classified as N₁ or N₂ depending on their site and number.

The M stands for ‘metastasis’ (spread) and is either present (M₁) or absent (M₀).

Other staging systems are often simpler. Early-stage disease may be called stage 1 whereas late-stage disease, or more advanced cancer, is then stage 4. Different criteria may be used for cancer at different sites of the body, so ask your consultant to explain exactly what the staging means for your type of cancer. A person with disease that has not spread is likely to have a better outcome than a patient whose disease has already left its primary site. This is because a localized tumour is more likely to be cured or removed altogether by either surgery or radiotherapy.