Overall Stage Grouping
Overall Stage Grouping is also referred to as Roman Numeral Staging. This system uses numerals I, II, III, and IV (plus the 0) to describe the progression of cancer.
- Stage 0: carcinoma in situ.
- Stage I: cancers are localized to one part of the body.
- Stage II: cancers are locally advanced.
- Stage III: cancers are also locally advanced. Whether a cancer is designated as Stage II or Stage III can depend on the specific type of cancer; for example, in Hodgkin's Disease, Stage II indicates affected lymph nodes on only one side of the diaphragm, whereas Stage III indicates affected lymph nodes above and below the diaphragm. The specific criteria for Stages II and III therefore differ according to diagnosis.
- Stage IV: cancers have often metastasized, or spread to other organs or throughout the body.
Within the TNM system, a cancer may also be designated as recurrent, meaning that it has appeared again after being in remission or after all visible tumor has been eliminated. Recurrence can either be local, meaning that it appears in the same location as the original, or distant, meaning that it appears in a different part of the body.
Read more about this topic: Cancer Staging
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“Even in civilized communities, the embryo man passes through the hunter stage of development.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)