When cancer is diagnosed, the doctor will usually go through the next step that is to figure out the stage of cancer.

Cancer stages are used to help patients understand the extent of their cancer and the prognosis.

Staging cancer may seem confusing, but it is actually not that difficult to understand.

Defining Staging

A process called staging will determine cancer stages and the severity of the cancer.

Cancer staging is based on the extent of how much the cancer has spread in the body.

Doctors will perform additional tests to check the body for cancer and to get a good idea of where the cancer is, where it began and if it is spreading.

The importance of Staging

How to treat the cancer is one of the most important parts of the process.

It is also useful for future research and understanding how that particular cancer reacts in the body.

Here are the reasons why staging is truly important:

* Helps form a treatment plan

* It helps doctors to form a prognosis

* Helpful in research studies

Components of Staging

Staging is done by looking at different factors.

There are certain elements that are included when determining cancer stages in order to help maintain a level of consistency for staging. These staging elements include:

* Location of the beginning of the cancer

* Size and number of tumors

* Location of cancer in the lymph nodes

* Cell type and grade of tumor

* Level of metastasis

In general, cancer stages are based upon a simple five-stage chart. Here is how that looks:

Stage 0 : Only pre-cancerous cells are present or early.

Stage 1,2,3: Cancer is really present and it may have spread in the localized area.

Stage Four: Cancer has spread everywhere in the body

Understanding cancer stages is not always easy, but it is important. A person receiving a diagnosis of cancer in stage 1 will know that their cancer is easier to treat and therefore their prognosis will likely be good.

Anne Durrel comes from Stockton, California. She has written a number of articles on Lung Cancer . Please also check out her other guide on lung cancer survival rate tips, and small cell cancer guide!

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