What Are The Stages Of Cancer?

Other Staging Factors

Other factors are considered when an oncologist stages a patient's cancer aside from if and how far it has spread beyond its original location. The type of cell affected by cancer is also considered, as different tissues in the body undergo the process of cancer in different ways. A cancerous tumor may be graded using a numeric character between one and four. This grading of a tumor is based on how the cells comprised within it appear underneath a microscope. A lower grade of cancer is associated with cancerous cells that most closely resemble healthy cells, while a high grade of cancer is associated with cancerous cells that are more dissimilar to healthy cells. Some cancers are described by a general and basic staging method that uses roman numerals to describe the size and progression of cancer. The basic and general staging method may also consist of the letters A, B, or C to further characterize the roman numeral categories.

Get familiar with the other cancer staging systems used next.