Bone cancer Staging
Once bone cancer has been diagnosed, the tumor is staged. This process indicates how
far the tumor has spread from its original location. The stage of a tumor suggests which
form of treatment is most appropriate, and predicts how the condition will probably
respond to therapy.
An osteosarcoma may be localized or metastatic. A
localized osteosarcoma has not spread beyond the bone where it arose or beyond nearby
muscles, tendons, and other tissues. A metastatic osteosarcoma has spread to the lungs, to
bones not directly connected to the bone in which the tumor originated, or to other
tissues or organs.
How mumbers are used in bone cancer staging
There are 3 number stages of bone cancer, stage 1, 2, and 3. These are
divided into 1A and 1B and so on. The staging is partly based on the grade of
your cancer. The grade is decided by the appearance of the bone cancer cells
under the microscope. If they look more like normal bone cells they are low
grade and the cancer is most likely to be slow growing. If they look very
abnormal, they are high grade and the cancer is most likely to be faster
growing. There is more about grade in
the About Cancer
section of CancerHelp UK.
Stage 1 bone cancer
Stage 1 bone cancer is cancer that is low grade and has not spread to lymph nodes or any
other body organ.
Stage 1A means low grade bone cancer that is still completely inside the bone where it
started. It may be pressing on the bone wall and causing a swelling, but it has
not grown through it. Stage 1B bone cancer is low grade, but has grown through
the bone wall.
Stage 2 bone cancer
Stage 2 bone cancer is cancer that is high grade and has not spread to lymph nodes or any
other body organ. As with stage 1, there are 2 further groups: stage 2A and 2B.
Stage 2A means the cancer is still completely within the bone where it
started. Stage 2B has grown through the wall of the bone.
Stage 3 bone cancer
This is bone cancer of any grade that has spread.
|