Staging:

 The doctors need to know how far the cancer has spread. There are different stages of cancer. The initial stages are the easiest to deal with because then the disease has not become too perilous. When the doctors detect the stage they can determine what treatment should be done. That is the reason staging is rather important in the treatment process.

 The tests can easily diagnose the stage.  There are different ways of staging cancers.The two main ways are the TNM system and number stages.The information you get about the stage of your cancer may sound a bit confusing.  You probably won’t be as familiar with these terms as your doctor is.   If you don’t understand what stage your cancer is, and would like to know more, ask your doctor.

The stages named TNM and its description:
‘TNM’ stands for Tumor, Node, and Metastasis. 

This staging system can tell you

·                      The initial size of the tumor.  (T) 

·                      Whether there are lymph nodes containing cancer cells (N)   

·                      Whether the cancer has spread to a different part of the body (M)

The size of the tumor (T)

There are 5 stages of tumor size in the current TNM classification of anal cancer: T1 – T4 and a very early stage called Tis or carcinoma in situ.  Anal cancers are not usually found at this very early stage, as they don’t cause any symptoms when they are so small. 

Below is the exact meaning of each T stage for anal cancer

·                      Tis or carcinoma in situ - also sometimes also called AIN (anal carcinoma in situ)- is the earliest stage of anal cancer, when the cancer cells are only found inside the lining of the anus and have not spread elsewhere  

·                      T1 means the tumor measures 2cm across or less   

·                      T2 means the tumor is larger than 2cm but smaller than 5cm   

 ·                      T3 means the tumor is larger than 5cm   

·                      T4 means the cancer can be any size, but is growing into the surrounding tissues or organs, such as the urethra, the vagina or bladder

N stages of anal cancer:

The N stage refers to whether any lymph nodes are affected by the cancer.  The N stages are defined as follows

·                      N0 means that no lymph nodes contain cancer cells  

·                      N1 means there are cancer cells in the lymph nodes closest to the rectum   

·                      N2 means the lymph nodes in the pelvis (pelvic nodes) or groin (inguinal nodes) on one side of the body are affected   

·                      N3 means that either the nodes near the rectum and nodes in the groin or pelvis contain cancer cells OR the nodes in the pelvis or groin on both sides of the body contain cancer cells

M stages of anal cancer:

The M stage refers to whether there has been spread of the cancer to other organs in the body.  M stages are defined as follows

·                      M0 means there is no cancer spread to other organs.   

·                      M1 means the cancer has spread to another part of the body, such as the liver.

Determining these is necessary in order to have a clear idea for treatment purposes.

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