Outline of disease process

Question 1

Describe the principles of ‘staging’ in cancer.

Answer 1

Staging takes several factors into account in order to help assess local/distant spread, diagnose the patient and make a prognosis.

Position of tumour
Depth of penetration of tumour
Relationship to adjacent structures
Involvement of regional lymph nodes
Presence of distant metastases

Question 2

Describe modalities of therapy currently available.

Answer 2

Regular surveillance- especially in individuals with family history of disease
Surgery
Testing for gene mutations
Relating unknown symptoms to possible underlying characteristics