What Are The Stages Of Cancer?

Pathologic Stage

When an individual is diagnosed with cancer, they will undergo imaging testing and physical examinations to help their physician determine the clinical stage of their cancer. After these tests are done, the patient works with their health care provider to set up a treatment plan. Most solid tumor cancer types are treated with a surgical procedure to remove as much of the cancerous tissue as possible. At the time of the surgical procedure, tissues are taken from the patient's tumor and sent to a laboratory for further examination. The stage assigned based on the information about how the cancerous cells appear underneath a microscope at this point is referred to as the pathologic stage. Some patients do not immediately undergo a surgical procedure to remove the malignant growth, but will still be assigned a pathologic stage based on a non-surgical biopsy performed on their tumor.