Colon Cancer Stages Tnm
Most hospitals and medical centers use the tnm system as their main method for cancer reporting.
Colon cancer stages tnm. The tnm staging system. Colorectal carcinoma staging can be performed using two systems. Cells found in stage 0 colorectal cancer may be cancerous or precancerous. And within a stage an earlier letter means a lower stage.
Stage 1 colon cancer indicates the cancer has grown into the inner layer of the colon called the mucosa to the next layer of the colon called the submucosa. The tnm system is the most widely used cancer staging system. The cancer is in its earliest stage and hasn t spread beyond the mucosa which is the inner lining of the colon or rectum. The cancer has grown into the intestinal wall through the mucosa the inner lining and into the submucosa and may have entered the muscle.
Often tumors localized to the organ of origin are staged as i or ii depending on the extent locally extensive spread to regional nodes are staged as iii and those with distant metastasis staged as stage iv. In the case of colon and rectal cancer the system used is one that goes by the acronym tnm which stands for tumor. However in some tumor types stage groups do not conform to this simplified schema. A higher number such as stage iv means cancer has spread more.
The traditional dukes staging system has largely been replaced by the tnm system but is nonetheless often used clinically. Staging colon cancer and rectal cancer each cancer has its own staging criteria. The earliest stage colorectal cancers are called stage 0 a very early cancer and then range from stages i 1 through iv 4. As a rule the lower the number the less the cancer has spread.
Carcinoma in situ is categorized stage 0. You are likely to see your cancer described by this staging system in your pathology report unless you have a cancer for which a different staging system is used. Doctors use it to describe the size of the tumour t whether the cancer has spread to lymph nodes n or to other parts of the body m. It has not spread to the lymph nodes.
There is no evidence the cancer has spread to lymph nodes or distant organs. This stage is also known as carcinoma in situ.