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The Description & Names of the Stages of Cancer

Cancer staging systems exist to help medical teams communicate. To that end, they provide a common language for the description of tumors, facilitate a standard treatment protocol and allow for more standardized research. Stages of cancer are generally rated on a scale of one to four, with one being the least severe. Each particular type of cancer will reveal different symptoms at each stage. The standardized ratings look at how much the cancer has spread.

  1. Stage 1

    • In stage 1, the tumor is relatively small and is entirely contained within the organ where it started. For example, a stage 1 oral tumor is less than 2 cm in size and has spread neither to nearby lymph nodes nor to the throat.

    Stage 2

    • In stage 2, the tumor is larger but has not begun any significant spreading. Stage 2 oral cancer is between 2 and 4 cm in size and has not spread to any lymph nodes. For some types of cancer, spreading to nearby lymph nodes still falls within the parameters of stage 2 development.

    Stage 3

    • In stage 3, the tumor is still larger and may have spread into surrounding tissues. It will also have spread into nearby lymph nodes. Stage 3 oral cancer is a tumor that is over 4 cm or has spread to only one lymph node on the same side of the neck as the tumor, with no more than 3 cm of cancer within that lymph node.

    Stage 4

    • Also called metastasis, stage 4 is the most severe stage. At stage 4, the cancer has moved to and fully involved an organ other than the one where it started. Oral cancer has reached stage 4 when it reaches lymph nodes on the opposite side of the neck, has spread to tissue of the oral cavity or has spread to other body parts.

    Subdivisions

    • Some kinds of cancer have the basic stages subdivided by letter. For example, breast cancer stage IIA is a tumor less than 2 cm that has spread to the lymph nodes, while stage IIB is a tumor between 2 and 5 cm that has spread to the lymph nodes.

    TNM Staging

    • A less commonly used staging system is the TNM system, standing for Tumor, Node and Metastasis. Each indicator receives a rating, which combine to demonstrate the seriousness of the cancer. Tumor receives a rating based on size from one to four. Nodes rate from zero to three, the frequency of infected lymph nodes. Metastasis receives a binary rating of zero or one, based on whether the cancer has spread to other organs.

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