After a person is informed that he has been diagnosed with cancer in the body, the first thing he wants to know is the stage of cancer formation and the doctor’s prognosis for recovery. A large number of cancer patients are simply afraid to hear their diagnosis.
Patients are afraid of the 4th stage of the disease, thinking that this is a death sentence and that under such a condition forecasts are made extremely unfavorable. But in modern medicine, no degree of cancer neglect guarantees a positive diagnosis. The last stage of the development of the disease also does not indicate an unfavorable prognosis. There are a large number of factors that can affect the prognosis of the disease and the general condition of a person.
Classification Features
This includes the histology of tumor formations, their distribution sites, as well as the types of detected metastases.
The classification of oncological neoplasms is very important, since it helps doctors obtain accurate data about a particular tumor or its location, draw up the correct treatment, monitor its course and carry out general monitoring of the development of the tumor process. Determining the stage of cancer is important in order to make a more effective and high-quality treatment.
A guide to the TNM classification of malignant tumors helps to accurately determine the severity of the disease and its prevalence. Such diagnostics are performed by doctors, whose main task is to determine the prognosis of the lesion, as well as the selection of more rational ways to deal with the problem. In order to achieve a good positive effect, a general assessment of the anatomical spread of oncology is carried out by examining the ongoing process.
TNM classification of tumors meets all the necessary requirements for an effective examination of a cancer, and is also based on the meaning in the abbreviation (TNM):
- Using T indicate the prevalence of tumor formation of the first stage in the human body.
- The degree of spread of the disease in the organ, as well as the presence or absence of metastases in the lymph node will be determined by the symbol N.
- The designation M indicates the type of formed metastases that are common in distant areas of the affected organ or tissue (can also indicate their absence).
To identify the prevalence of the tumor process, numbers are used.
Definition of localization of education
The localization of cancer education will be determined according to generally established rules, which include the following items:
- An established diagnosis of the disease should be accurately confirmed by histological examination.
- Be sure to detail the disease itself. In the description, attention is paid to the clinical picture of the disease, based on the information obtained from a comprehensive study of the patient before prescribing treatment. Further, in the classification of cancer according to TNM, the pathological component of the process is described, which is detected using a study conducted before the start of treatment therapy. During the operation and after studying the collected biological material from the patient, the information obtained is indicated by the abbreviation pTNM.
- The results of pTNM and tumor classification of TNM help doctors accurately determine the stage of the disease.
- If during the examination and determination of the symptoms of the disease, doctors have some doubts about the accuracy, then they are based on a rare category.
- In the group of oncological diseases, there is also a T-category. It includes a large number of forms of cancers spreading in a particular organ. The number of defined formations is indicated by the sign m, next to which an additional numerical indicator is placed.
The main types of education classification
Classification according to the TNM system of tumors can be indicated by the following symbols:
- T - primary tumor: x - determines the preliminary size of the cancer formation in the body. Tis reveals a carcinoma of preinvasive type. The prevalence of the disease or its progression in size is indicated by certain numbers (T1, T2). T10 - means the absence of primary type oncology.
- N-lymph nodes: N0 - metastases are not detected in the body. To indicate the severity of the defeat of regional lymph nodes with metastases, figures are used - N1,2,3 and so on. NX - it is impossible to assess the general condition of regional lymph nodes due to the fact that the collected information is not enough.
- M - metastases of the finished location: M1 - metastases were detected, V0 - metastases were detected, but they differ in their distant location in relation to each other. MX - there is no way to determine if there are or are no metastases in education, since insufficient information about education was collected.
Also often after the letter M, the name of the organ in which metastases were recorded is written in brackets. For example, M1 (lym) indicates that metastases are present in the lymph nodes, M1 (mar) - in the bone marrow.
Histopathological differentiation
When classifying cancer according to the TNM system, histopathological differentiation is additionally used, which gives more detailed information about the studied cause of tumor formation.
The following notation exists:
- GX - lack of information to determine the severity of the disease;
- G1 / G2 / G3 - the severity of the lesion (low, medium or high);
- G4 - helps to detect an undifferentiated cancer in the human body.
Classification according to the TNM system of oncological lesions helps to accurately determine the prevalence of education, taking into account the place of its distribution and distinctive features, based on the individual characteristics of the human anatomy, as well as the organ where the cancer was detected.
Existing Cancer Stages
The classification of malignant tumors according to the TNM system divides them all into separate stages. Doctors determine the course of the disease from stage 0 to 4. Moreover, each of them also has its own letter designation - A or B.
Zero Cancer
At the zero stage of oncological formation, a small tumor develops in the human body, which has strictly established boundaries. Most often, such a formation does not go beyond the boundaries of the epithelium, its doctors call it non-invasive. This stage of cancer is considered the initial, it always appears, regardless of the place of spread of the disease.
But at this stage of the development of the disease, a person almost always does not have pronounced symptoms, for this reason it is possible to detect the presence of a malignant formation only with an unscheduled checkup with a doctor. If cancer at the 0 stage of development was determined in a timely manner and passed the classification of TNM, then the prognosis for the patient's recovery is usually favorable.
First stage of the disease
At the first stage of the development of the oncological process, expressed nodes of large size can be determined in it. The malignant process has not yet had time to spread to the lymph nodes, and metastases also did not appear. The human condition is positive, but at this stage of the lesion, the disease can already provoke the initial signs of malaise, which will indicate the presence of a serious pathological process in the body.
Recently, cancer of the first stage of development began to be diagnosed in patients much more often than before. Doctors think that the timely detection of tumor formation is affected by the consciousness of people who are examined by specialists every year. Also good results are achieved in the fact that in modern clinics there is new and high-quality equipment that helps to conduct effective diagnostic measures and identify the disease at an early stage of its development. When diagnosing the first stage of cancer, the chances of a favorable outcome continue to be quite high.
Second stage of cancer
Oncological processes at the second stage of the development of the lesion begin to manifest themselves, the tumor is rapidly progressing, increasing in size, spreading to nearby tissues. In this case, a person begins to manifest metastases in the lymph nodes. The general condition of the patient is greatly deteriorating, he begins to manifest negative symptoms, which make him go to the doctor. According to statistics, it is at the 2nd stage of cancer development in humans that the oncological process in the organ or tissues is most often detected.
Predictions for recovery in this case depend on the patient himself, therefore, are individual in each individual case. Recovery will directly depend on the severity of the disease, the place of its spread and the histology of the lesion itself. With all the recommendations of a specialist, cancer in the second stage of development can be successfully eliminated.
Third stage of defeat
Oncology at the third stage of development is already very widespread, the tumor formation becomes very large, numerous growth of the oncological process in organs and tissues located in close proximity is revealed. In this case, in all regional lymph nodes, the specialist identifies the process of metastasis.
Favorable prognoses include a condition in which metastases do not spread to far away organs, which gives a person a chance to cure the disease.
In principle, it is possible to cure cancer at the 3rd stage of development, but no specialist can guarantee the exact positive result of treatment. Most often, the result of therapy depends on a large number of factors: the location of the lesion, the histological features of the formation, as well as the severity.
Neglected oncology
The most dangerous for humans and unfavorable for treatment is the fourth stage of the oncological process. This condition is characterized by the large size of the tumor formation, which spreads in different directions, capturing healthy organs and tissues. At this time, global metastatic processes begin in the lymph nodes, most of them of a distant type.
Stage 4 cancer with progression becomes chronic, which no longer cures it. When diagnosing a disease at this stage of development, one can only provide assistance aimed at maintaining the state of the body and prolonging life.
The sooner a person visits a doctor and begins a comprehensive and effective treatment of education, the greater the chance of a positive treatment result. It is important to remember that cancer at the 4th stage of development, unfortunately, can no longer be cured.
Prostate Cancer and its classification
For effective treatment of prostate cancer, it is important to accurately determine the stage of its development and the type of treatment. The severity of the disease will directly depend on the size of the tumor formation and the prevalence of cancer cells in human organs, as well as the severity of the tumor. Specialists use the TNM classification of prostate cancer to make a diagnosis.
Also, to determine the malignancy of the tumor, the Gleason scale / sum is used. For this, the doctor conducts a biopsy of the prostate. The higher the Gleason score, the more aggressive the disease.
The Glenson scale is based on the degree to which cancer cells detected in prostate tissues differ from normal, healthy organ cells. If cancer cells are similar to normal organ cells during diagnosis, then the first score is assigned to the tumor. If cancer cells are very different from healthy ones, then the tumor formation receives a maximum score of 5. In most cases, patients are given a third degree of development of prostate cancer.
Gleason's sum estimates the points on a scale (from one to five) by the two largest or malignant formations that were detected in the tissues of the organ (most often, tumor cells spread to several areas of the prostate). For example, a Gleason score of 7 points will mean that the two largest or malignant tumors in the body have 3 and 4 points, which will add 7 as a result of addition.
Clinical and anatomical classification of lung cancer
The anatomical classification of the lung according to TNM includes a grouping of cancer depending on the caliber of the affected bronchi into peripheral and central.
Central lung cancer spreads to the bronchi. In this case, lobar, segmental and subsegmental lesions are accessible to visual inspection through a bronchofibroscope. A distinctive feature of the central tumor is that during its development it most often obstructs the lumen of a rather large bronchus, provokes atelectasis or hypoventilation of a certain part of the lung tissue, which leads to the appearance of clinical and radiological symptoms.
In addition, oncology in the large bronchus can occur against the background of the following negative symptoms: cough, blood secretion, paracancrotic pneumonia. A bronchoscopic examination with a biopsy helps in most cases to accurately identify the diagnosis and exclude central cancer. But in some cases, even the central tumor does not obstruct the lumen in the organ, but spreads mainly near the bronchial wall.
As a result of this process, atelectasis syndrome or hypoventilation does not occur. With such a lesion, the primary tumor of the bronchus is very rarely recognized and is difficult to see through fibrobronchoscopy.
The peripheral form of cancer is formed from smaller branches of the bronchi, which is why it is localized in the peripheral parts of the lung tissue. The disease, common in the small bronchi, does not lead to coughing and other symptoms that are characteristic of central lung cancer, which leads to problems with modern diagnosis of the disease. The peripheral form of cancer for a long time does not provoke any symptoms, therefore, it is already detected at a serious stage.