Diagnosis And Staging Of The Patient

Cancer is a disease that is characterized by an “controlled growth and spread of abnormal cells” (What is Cancer?: American Cancer Society). When such a growth takes place, the cancer cells form a tumor from which cells will invade the neighboring tissues and organs. Some of these cells may even travel through the blood or other means to attack other organs and tissues in the body, this is called metastasis (Medline Plus: Metastasis). Different cancers have claimed several million lives over the years. In the 1980s, more than 4.5 million people died in the United States alone from cancer. As time goes by, more and more people get affected by cancer. In the past few years, nine million people developed cancers, and today there are more than 12 million people in the United States receiving

The phase of cancer at the point of diagnosis varies for different cancers. Therefore, staging is performed by means of various methods such as MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging), CT (Computed tomography), X-rays, blood tests and special surgery. The three main reasons why staging of cancer is performed are: it determines the depth of the disease, helps determine the treatment by the phase of the cancer and helps determine the patient's projection of treatment and survival.

     Several tests can be run once symptoms are noticed to earmark the disease with a proper diagnosis. Some of the tests include; a biopsy of the tumor, X-rays, a CT scan, a skeletal survey, bone scans or bone marrow aspiration (fluid sample) and biopsy (tissue sample). Once diagnosed, the treatments begin to hinder any advancement the cancer would or could make. Possibly removing the cancer completely through surgery is a possibility, while others include chemotherapy, radiation treatment, and bone marrow transplantation. Many times these treatments can be used concurrently with one another.

The T category describes the original (primary) tumor. The tumor size is usually measured in centimeters (2 and 1/2 centimeters is about 1 inch) or millimeters (10 millimeters = 1 centimeter).

The importance?s of staging cancer is to assist the doctor with planning appropriate treatments to fight the cancer and also helps determine is treatment is a necessary option for patients. ?Unfortunately cancer is an assembly of illnesses that can result in virtually any sign or symptom. However the signs and symptoms associated with cancer are dependent upon where the cancer is located, how big the cancer is, and how much of the cancer affects the organs and tissues that the cancer is found in. If a cancer has metastasized (spread) to other regions of the body the signs or symptoms will possibly appear their as well? (cancer.org).

Once the biopsy is obtained rom the surgeon, aseptic technique should be used in order to minimize any contamination of the specimen. Since the tissue being extracted form the body, time will be of an essence due to the live tissue dying as time goes on. The tumor cells will be looked at under a microscope in order to determine weather a patient has

There are two extensive classes into which all malignancy types can be isolated: hematological, which are blood-borne diseases and strong tumors, which are the developments depicted previously. Every kind of disease has an extraordinary name, more often than not originating from the range of the body which is fundamentally influenced. For instance, delicate tissue tumors are dangerous developments which happen inside the profound muscle or interfacing tissues all through the body. Melanoma is a sort of skin growth, which influences cells containing skin pigments.

Cancer is defined by the National Cancer Institute as the title given to a group of related diseases. All types of cancer are categorized by uncontrollable growth of cells that metastasize to surrounding tissues. Cancer can develop at almost any part of the human body and anyone can develop cancer, although risk typically increases with age because most cancers tend to require many years to develop. ?Typically, human cells tend to grow and divide and ultimately form new cells as the body needs them. When an organisms cells grow old or get damaged, the cells die, and new ones replace them. However when cancer develops, this orderly process gets reformatted. As cells increasingly get more irregular, old or damaged cells begin to survive when they should die, and new cells develop in the body when there is no need for them. These abnormal cells have the ability to divide without stopping and tend to result in growths called tumors?(cancer.gov). Cancerous tumors are defined as malignant meaning that they can spread to nearby tissues or metastasize to distant places in places within the body and form new cancerous tumors. There are over 100 forms of cancer and they are usually named after the organs or tissues where the cancers originate. Staging of cancer is used when describing the severity of a person?s cancer and is based upon the following

The TNM classification is used for clinical staging of breast tumors. The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCQ 7th edition stages breast cancer as follows: 12

- The TNM classification is to describe the seriousness and characteristics of a patient’s cancer. T describes the measurements of the tumor. N stands for whether or not the cancer has started to develop in the lymph nodes. M is used for to determine if the cancer has moved from the original site to another location.

These are just the basic warnings, other signs may be more internal. Some forms of cancer may not show as many signs visually though and can only be diagnosed through a ct scan.

All three of the cancer spreads listed above are extremely dangerous. It is bad enough when someone has cancer in just one prat of their body. When they find that it has moved and expanded to other areas, it it just devastating. Pathologists need to know about all of the different types of metastases so that they can better assess the situation and try to keep the cancer from spreading. This is because the pathologist is the one who actually diagnoses the cancer, a regular doctor does not. Either way, understanding how cancer spreads through the body can increase the likelihood that the cancer could be contained and not

The American Joint Committee on Cancer developed the TNM staging system. The T classification measures the scope of the primary tumor; the N classification measures how much the lymph nodes are affected; and the M classification evaluates metastasis. The T category characterizes the primary tumor as: TX-undefinable, T0-no evidence, Tis- carcinoma in situ, and T1-T4- the measurable scope of the tumor with T4 being the largest. The N category is defined as: NX- not evaluated, N0-no involvement, and N1-N3-regional lymph node involvement measuring the extent with N3 being the worst. The M category is listed as: M0- no metastasis and M1- metastasis. The T, N, and M classifications are then added together to get the more commonly known 0-IV staging. (AJCC,

the location of the tumor at any given instance during the treatment cycle was based on

Staging will shows to what degree the tumour spread and how large it