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Staging of cancer
The staging of cancer is a system used to measure how severe the disease is. Tumors get larger and spread to other parts of the body as cancer gets worse.
There are three components to staging:
- Tumor size (T)
- Involvement of lymph nodes (N)
- Whether the tumor has spread (metastasized) from the original site to other parts of the body (M)
This staging system is commonly referred to as the TNM cancer staging system.
Credits
| Author | Jeannette Curtis |
| Author | Caroline Rea, RN, BS, MS |
| Editor | Kathleen M. Ariss, MS |
| Editor | Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA |
| Associate Editor | Tracy Landauer |
| Associate Editor | Pat Truman |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Patrice Burgess, MD - Family Medicine |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine |
| Last Updated | May 25, 2007 |
| Last updated: | May 25, 2007 |
|---|---|
| Author: | Caroline Rea, RN, BS, MS |
| Reviewed By: | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine |
| Editors: | Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Pat Truman |
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