Cancer Intro: Grading, Staging, TNM

Question 1

what is the definition of grading

Answer 1

pathologist compares the appearance of cancer cells to the normal surrounding cells

Question 2

what is the definition of staging

Answer 2

classifying a malignancy by the extent of spread within the body

Question 3

what are the numbers for grading

Answer 3

gx
g1
g2
g3
g4

Question 4

what does gx mean

Answer 4

can not be assessed

Question 5

what does g1 mean

Answer 5

low grade, well differentiated, slow growing

Question 6

what does g2 mean

Answer 6

moderate grade, moderately differentiated, growing slightly faster

Question 7

what does g3 mean

Answer 7

high grade, poorly differentiated, growing faster

Question 8

what does g4 mean

Answer 8

high grade, undifferentiated, not distinct at all, very aggressive

Question 9

what does stage 1 mean

Answer 9

samll cancer found only in organ where it originated

Question 10

what does stage 2 mean

Answer 10

larger cancer that may/may have not spread to lymph nodes

Question 11

what does stage 3 mean

Answer 11

larger cancer also in the lymph nodes

Question 12

what does stage 4 mean

Answer 12

cancer has spread from original site into other organs

Question 13

what is TNM

Answer 13

system of staging

Question 14

what does T in TNM mean

Answer 14

size of primary tumor

Question 15

what does N in TNM mean

Answer 15

number of lymph nodes involved

Question 16

what does M in TNM mean

Answer 16

extent of metastasis

Question 17

what are the numbers for the tumor size in TNM

Answer 17

tx
t0
tis
t1
t2
t3
t4

Question 18

what does tx mean

Answer 18

tumor size can’t be measured

Question 19

what does t0 mean

Answer 19

no primary tumor, or can’t be found

Question 20

what does tis mean

Answer 20

tumor is in situ

Question 21

what does t1 mean

Answer 21

small or early stage

Question 22

what does t2 mean

Answer 22

confined to original area

Question 23

what does t3 mean

Answer 23

has spread to surrounding tissues

Question 24

what does t4 mean

Answer 24

large, advanced stage cancer

Question 25

what are the numbers/categories of staging for nodes in TNM

Answer 25

nx
n0
n1
n2
n3

Question 26

what does nx mean

Answer 26

nearby nodes can’t be tested/evaluated

Question 27

what does n0 mean

Answer 27

lymph nodes are cancer free

Question 28

what does n1 mean

Answer 28

cancer cells have reached one node

Question 29

what does n2 mean

Answer 29

cancer spread to more than one node

Question 30

what does n3 mean

Answer 30

cancer in lymph nodes extensive/widespread

Question 31

what are the numbers/categories of metastasis

Answer 31

mx
m0
m1

Question 32

what does mx mean

Answer 32

unknown if cancer has spread

Question 33

what does m0 mean

Answer 33

no distant metastases

Question 34

what does m1 mean

Answer 34

cancer has spread to one or more distant parts of the body

Question 35

what does in situ mean (Tis)

Answer 35

still in the original tissue layer

Question 36

what does localized mean

Answer 36

still in the original organ

Question 37

what does regional mean

Answer 37

spread to nearby lymph nodes or organs

Question 38

what does distant mean

Answer 38

spread to distant body parts