Lung cancer staging is simply the description of the extent of a disease. This can be observed and distinguished through several test and diagnostic workups. Basically the diagnosis focuses on the pathology of the samples taken through biopsy of the affected area. The sample is studied if it is malignant, benign or has already metastasized. That’s staging in a nutshell, determining the extent of the disease through the diagnostic exams.
For a patient to be staged and diagnosed properly, one must undergo a series of tests and exams. Biopsy is a latter part of the procedure. Preliminary exams include visualization exams, where it is done through chest x-ray, ultrasound, CT scan and CAT scan. All these are aimed to locate and measure the growth of the cancer cells. Take note that one of the staging processes involves getting the actual size in centimeters of the cancer cell. These imaging studies may aid the physician to get the size of the cancer cell and growth.
Other exams include using some chemical substances to note damages and also the progress of the cancer cells. This is done through diagnosing the blood and determines if certain components are high and low. After all these, biopsy can be done to serve as the final and the most extensive exam to determine the stage of cancer. Once again, imaging examination is important to locate the specific site for biopsy. If you don’t have any idea what biopsy is, it is actually an insertion of a needle directly to the affected area and getting sample to study in the laboratories. You don’t want the physician to just insert the needle anywhere in the body. Accuracy is most valuable.
Lung cancer staging is usually described in terms of the TNM system. Where T stands for Tumor size, N for node involvement and M for metastasis status. Numbers are added to show the severity of each component. T comes from T0 to T4, Nx to N3 while M has Mx to M1. It increases in severity when the number goes up or means positive for 1 in Metastasis, x in the category means can’t be determined.
The other common staging is the level staging. It uses Stage 1 to Stage 4, where 4 is the most severe. It goes as follow
Stage 1: less than 2 cm cancer, no node involvement
Stage 2: 2 cm to 4 cm with same side node involvement
Stage 3: 4 cm above with node involvement on the other side
Stage 4: size is greater than 4 and can be greater, metastasis has already occurred.
The function of staging is to determine treatment and as well as prognosis. It helps in treatment in a sense that it determines if a specific treatment program is used or not. For more advanced, radiotherapy may be needed other than just chemotherapy. It also determines if surgical removal is needed.
Prognosis on the other hand means the survival rate based on the clinical studies and the doctor’s capacity. This is in its simplest form a hypothetical guess based on the diagnostic studies and the usual percentage of survival of the same case. This is how important staging is and understanding it.
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