Stages and Treatment Types

• Cancer diagnoses are divided into stages: zero, I, II, III and IV. Each stage represents how large any cancerous tumors are and to what degree cancer cells have spread. Stage zero means that cancer cells are present but have yet to form a tumor. The three main treatments are chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery. Chemotherapy requires synthetic chemicals to be put into your system to find cancer cells and destroy their DNA. Radiation therapy means that radioactive material is applied to localized or widespread areas to destroy cancer tumors and cells. Surgery usually means removing cancerous tumors or polyps.
  
  

Stage I

• Stage I cancer is exhibited by a presence of cancerous cells or small tumors in a specific location. They have yet to spread. Diagnosis can occur during routine exams such as mammograms. Treatment at this stage is usually surgery. For breast cancer, a lumpectomy may be performed to remove the tumors from the affected breast. Colon cancer stage 1 treatment involves removing tumors via surgery through the abdominal wall or the rectum.
  
  

Stage II

• Stage II cancer means that cancer tumors have increased in size and have possibly spread to nearby tissue and lymph nodes. Stage II can sometimes be divided into subcategories for certain cancers. The categories describe specific situations where cancers meet certain sizes and locations. One form of stage II breast cancer states that the tumor can be larger than five centimeters but has not spread anywhere. Treatment at this stage can be chemotherapy, radiation therapy or surgery if the tumor's location isn't hard to reach.
  
  

Stage III

• In Stage III, the cancer has significantly spread into nearby lymph nodes as well as other body tissue. Tumor sizes are significant and symptoms have increased. For lung cancer, stage III means that the tumor could have spread to the area above the heart, trachea or a main blood vessel. Treatment at this stage is usually chemotherapy or radiotherapy because cancer cells are no longer localized; surgery is usually only recommended for symptom relief.
  
  

Stage IV

• Stage IV cancer unfortunately means a very short life expectancy among diagnosed patients for most forms of cancer. Cancer cells have metastasized and invaded other organs, significantly hindering their function. Treatment options can be limited to symptom relief and hospice care in order to make life less painful towards the end. Sometimes clinical trials will offer more experimental treatment in order to discover ways of preventing cancer from reaching stage IV in future patients.