Mesothelioma Stages.
Stages of mesothelioma informs about the status of the mesothelioma cancer and whether there is metastasis. The stage of mesothelioma is determined through the diagnostic procedures of mesothelioma. It is the stage of the mesothelioma cancer which helps the cancer specialist to determine the course of treatment and also gives an idea of the prognosis of the disease.
Stages of Mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is a rare cancer and since the pleural mesothelioma is more common among the types of mesothelioma, mesothelioma staging parameters are set for pleural mesothelioma only and not for peritoneal and pericardial mesothelioma.
Staging of Mesothelioma is done by two systems and each has its own parameters.
(A) The Butchart System of Staging Mesothelioma.
Stage 1 Mesothelioma.
In this stage, mesothelioma is present only one side and there is involvement of the pleura without any invasion into the chest wall.
Stage 2 Mesothelioma.
There is invasion of the mesothelioma into the chest wall, along with involvement of the esophagus and the heart and possibly the pleura on the other side. There may be spread of the cancer into the lymph nodes in the chest.
Stage 3 Mesothelioma.
There is spread of the pleural mesothelioma into the peritoneum in the abdomen. The lymph nodes in the abdomen may also be involved.
Stage 4 Mesothelioma.
There is metastasis (spread) of mesothelioma through the blood stream to other organs.
(B) The TNM System of Staging Mesothelioma.
- T stands for Tumor,
- N stands for the Node of the lymphatic system and
- M stands for metastasis. (spread of cancer).
TNM staging of cancer is a recently developed staging system, which is usually used to stage solid malignant tumors. Most of the tumors are classified by this system but some like brain tumors are not. TNM staging of cancer was developed by a non governmental body called UICC or International Union Against Cancer with the purpose to bring about a global consensus to stage cancers and access its spread.
This purpose has been achieved and TNM is globally used. This also helped to bring about a coordinated global effort in cancer research. The UICC cancer staging has the same definitions of the AJCC cancer staging (American Joint Committee on Cancer).
Image showing stages of mesothelioma.
(Click on picture to enlarge)
Stage 1 Mesothelioma.
There is involvement of pleura only on one side of the chest. There may be some spread into the lungs but the lymph nodes are not involved.
Stage 2 Mesothelioma.
There is involvement of the lymph nodes near the lung on the same side of the chest. There may be involvement of the lung, pericardium and the diaphragm on the same side.
Stage 3 Mesothelioma.
The mesothelioma has spread into the lymph nodes on the same side of the chest wall. There is involvement of the chest wall including the muscles and the ribs. The heart and the esophagus may also be involved.
Stage 4 Mesothelioma.
In this stage, the mesothelioma has spread into the lymph nodes, the pleura and the lungs on the opposite side of the chest. There may be invasion into the neck or the organs in the abdomen. Metastasis to distant organ is also included in this stage.
Your action step.
If you feel this article could be useful, do share it on social media and pass a comment below.
Medic On WebRelated posts: