Stages of LUNG CANCER
The staging of cancer
describes how far it has spread through the body and how severe it is. Staging
helps healthcare professionals and individuals decide on a suitable course of
treatment.
The most basic form of
staging is as follows:
- localized,
wherein the cancer is within a limited area
- regional,
wherein the cancer has spread to nearby tissues or lymph nodes
- distant,
wherein the cancer has spread to other parts of the body
Similar to this is
the TNM staging system. Healthcare professionals assess the tumor for
size and spread, whether or not it affects the lymph nodes, and whether or not
it has spread elsewhere.
There are also specific
ways of staging non-small cell and small cell lung cancer.
Learn more about the
stages of lung cancer here.
Stages
of non-small cell lung cancer
Healthcare professionals
typically use tumor size and spread to describe the stages of
non-small cell lung cancer, as follows:
- Occult, or
hidden: The
cancer does not show up on imaging scans, but cancerous cells might appear
in the phlegm or mucus.
- Stage 0: There are abnormal cells
only in the top layers of cells lining the airways.
- Stage 1: A tumor is present in the
lung, but it is 4 centimeters (cm) or under and has not spread to other
parts of the body.
- Stage 2: The tumor is 7 cm or under
and might have spread to nearby tissues and lymph nodes.
- Stage 3: The cancer has spread to
lymph nodes and reached other parts of the lung and surrounding area.
- Stage 4: The cancer has spread to distant body parts, such as the bones or brain.
Stages
of small cell lung cancer
Small cell lung cancer
has its own categories. The stages are known as limited and extensive, and
they refer to whether the cancer has spread within or outside the lungs.
In the limited stage,
the cancer affects only one side of the chest, though it might already be
present in some surrounding lymph nodes.
Around one-third of
people with this type find out that they have cancer when it is in the limited
stage. Healthcare professionals can treat it with radiation therapy as a single
area.
In the extensive stage,
the cancer has spread beyond the one side of the chest. It may affect the other
lung or other parts of the body.
Around two-thirds of people with
small cell lung cancer find out that they have it when it is already in the
extensive stage.
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