CANCER STAGING

Is it worse if the cancer has spread?

Yes, it is definitely worse. That’s why it's very important for doctors to know the extent of spread of your cancer. Doctors have come up with a system to document the spread of cancer and they call it staging.

Can you explain staging?

Staging is a system that defines the extent of the spread of a cancer. Although there are different systems for staging cancers all of them share similarities. In general, the stages run from 1-4. In stage 1 the cancer has not spread at all. In stage 2 it has spread a little bit. In stage 3 the cancer has usually grown beyond the limits of the organ that it originated in. For example, in prostate cancer this would mean that the cancer has spread beyond the limits of the prostate wall.

In stage 4, the cancer has invaded the blood system or lymph channels and has spread to distant sites. Examples would be lung cancer spreading to the brain or breast cancer spreading to the liver.

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