Oral Cancer
Stages
An important prognostic predictor for oral cancer is the clinicopathologic
stage. A clinicopathologic stage describes the cancer developmental phase,
and is established according to several criteria: (1) the tumor size,
(2) the cancer location, and (3) the cancer extent (how far it has spread).
The most common staging system used for oral cancer is the American
Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM system. The TNM system refers
to: (T) the tumor features -size and invasion level;
(N) the lymph nodes involved - lymph nodes are part of the body
immune system; (M) the cancer metastasis - metastasis
stage is the last developmental cancer stage when the cancer has spread
to distal organs (organs situated far from the origin point).
T stage for oral
cancer
T0: No primary tumor is present.
Tis: Carcinoma in situ (the cancer is confined to the
tissue where it developed)
T1: The tumor is 2 cm or less.
T2: The tumor is 4 cm or less.
T3: The tumor is larger than 4 cm.
T4: The tumor is larger than 4 cm, and it has deeply
invaded the muscle, bone, or other adjacent structures.
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N stage for oral cancer
N0: No lymphatic nodes are affected.
N1: The cancer has affected one homolateral lymphatic node,
but its size is smaller than 3 cm.
N2: The cancer is present in one or more homolateral lymphatic
nodes, but their size is smaller than 6 cm.
N3: The cancer is present in a few homolateral or bilateral
lymphatic nodes, having a size larger than 6 cm.
M stage for oral cancer
M0: No metastasis are present.
M1: The cancer has spread to distal organs (organs located far
from the origin point where the cancer had developed initially).
Based on the TNM system, the oral cancer is classified in four stages:
Stage I: (T1, N0, M0)
In this stage, the cancer is confined to tissue where it initially occurred,
and the tumor is not larger than 2 cm.
Stage II: (T2, N0, M0)
In this stage, the tumor is no larger than 4 cm.
Stage III: This stage includes two substages:
Stage IIIA: (T3, N0, M0)
In this stage, the tumor is larger than 4 cm, but no lymphatic nodes
or metastasis are present.
Stage IIIB: (T1, T2, T3, N1, M0)
In this stage, the tumor size is either less than 2 cm, under 4 cm,
and 4 cm or over, but the cancer has affected one homolateral lymphatic
node.
Stage IV: This stage includes three substages:
Stage IVA: (T4, N0, M0)
In this stage, the tumor is larger than 4 cm, and it has deeply invaded
the muscle, bone, or other adjacent structures.
Stage IVB: (Any T, N2 or N3, M0)
In this stage, the tumor can have several sizes (1) less then 2 cm,
(2) less or more than 4 cm, (3) more than 4 cm but it has deeply invaded
the muscle, bone, or other adjacent structures, or the cancer has
spread to several homolateral or bilateral lymphatic nodes.
Stage IVC: (Any T, any N, any M)
In this stage, there are several situations which include the tumors
having different sizes (between 2 and more than 4 cm), the cancer
is present in the homolateral or bilateral lymphatic nodes and in
other organs within the body.
Article by Alina Morrow, MS
Medical Writer
OmniMedicalSearch.com
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