Friday, July 3, 2009

Things You Should Know About Cancer Stages

By Anne Durrell

When cancer is diagnosed, the doctor will go through steps to figure out the stage of the cancer.

Cancer stages are used to help doctors form a treatment plan and to help patients understand the extent of their cancer and the prognosis.

It is actually not that difficult to understand staging cancer, even it may seem confusing.

Major Staging

A process called staging will determine cancer stages. It determines the severity of the cancer.

It is based on the extent of how much the cancer has spread in the body.

Doctors will usually perform another tests to check the body for cancer as well as to get an idea where the cancer is, where the cancer began and if the cancer spreading.

Staging Importance

It is an important part of the process in determining how to treat the cancer.

Staging process is also useful for future research as well as understanding how that cancer reacts in the body.

Here are the main reasons why staging is important:

* Helps form a treatment plan

* Helps in forming a prognosis

* Staging is helpful in research studies

Elements of Staging

Staging is done by looking at different factors.

There are certain elements that are included when determining cancer stages in order to help maintain a level of consistency for staging. These staging elements include:

* Location of where the cancer began

* Size and number of tumors

* Cancer location in the lymph nodes

* Tumor grade and Cell type.

* Level of metastasis

Usually, cancer stages are based upon 5 stages chart, and here is how the stage looks:

Stage 0 : Only pre-cancerous cells are present or early.

Stage 1,2,3: Cancer is really present and it may have spread in the localized area.

Stage Four: Cancer has spread everywhere in the body

It is not easy to understand cancer stages, but it is essential. Someone receiving a diagnosis of stage 1 cancer will know that the cancer is much easier to treat and the prognosis will likely be good. - 14130

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