Colon cancer staging

The TNM system is crucial in the choice of individual therapy.

After the TNM system of cancer according to the size of the tumor (T), the appearance of" daughter tumors (metastases) in lymph nodes (N, Latin for "nodus = knot and the occurrence of metastases in other organs (M) divided. This has consequences for the individual therapy in individual patients. For colorectal cancer, there is the following TNM classification:

T = size of the tumor
T stage

• Tx: No tumor assessment possible.
• T0: No evidence of a tumor.
• Tis: Non-invasive (not) in the surrounding tissue ingrown tumor.
• T1: tumor grows within the intestinal wall into the layer beneath the mucosal tissue.
• T2: tumor to grow into the muscle of the intestinal wall.
• T3: tumor grows beyond the bowel wall.
• T4: Tumor extends to adjacent organs or the peritoneum.
  

N = involvement of lymph nodes
N stage

• Nx: lymph nodes can not be assessed.
• N0: Lymph nodes are not affected.
• N1: Metastasis in 1 to 3 nearby lymph nodes.
• N2: Metastasis in 4 or more nearby lymph nodes.
  

M = Metastases
M stage

• M0: no organ metastases detected.
• M1: metastases in other organs present (eg, liver).
  

Stages:

Specifically for the colon cancer is the classification according to the TNM system also classified into 5 stages, which, however, is based on the TNM system:

• Stage 0: TisN0M0
• Stage I: T1N0M0 or T2N0M0
• Stage II: T3N0M0 or T4N0M0
• Stage III: Any T stage, as well N1M0 and N2M0
• Stage IV: Any T stage, and each N stage, as well as M1