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.
Author:Shannon Erstad, MBA/MPH
Medical Review:Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine
Michael Seth Rabin, MD - Medical Oncology
Michael Seth Rabin, MD - Medical Oncology
Last Updated: 10/30/2007
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