Colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer, also called colon cancer or bowel cancer, includes cancerous growths in the colon, rectum and appendix.

Staging

TNM or Duke's

Colon cancer staging is an estimate of the condition of a particular cancer for diagnostic and research purposes. The systems for staging colorectal cancers largely depend on the extent of local invasion, the degree of lymph node involvement and whether there is distant metastasis.

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The most common currently used system for staging is the TNM system, though many doctors still use the older Duke's system. The TNM system assigns a number:

Related Topics:
TNM

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• T - The degree of invasion of the intestinal wall
• T0 - no evidence of tumor
• Tis- cancer in situ (tumor present, but no invasion)
• T1 - tumor present but minimal invasion
• T2 - invasion into the submucosa
• T3 - invasion into the muscularis propria
• N - the degree of lymphatic node involvement
• N0 - no lymph nodes involved
• N1 - one to three nodes involved
• N2 - four or more nodes involved
• M - the degree of metastasis
• M0 - no metastasis
• M1 - metastasis present

AJCC stage groupings

The stage of a cancer is usually quoted as a number I,II,III,IV derived from the TNM value grouped by prognosis; a higher number indicates a more advanced cancer and a likely worse outcome.

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• Stage 0
• Tis, N0, M0
• Stage I
• T1, N0, M0
• T2, N0, M0
• Stage IIA
• T3, N0, M0
• Stage IIB
• T4, N0, M0
• Stage IIIA
• T1, N1, M0
• T2, N1, M0
• Stage IIIB
• T3, N1, M0
• T4, N1, M0
• Stage IIIC
• Any T, N2, M0
• Stage IV
• Any T, Any N, M1