| =
; &n=
bsp;
The M category describes the presence or otherwise of distant metastatic
spread. |
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| This
is shown in the figure below, which depicts the T, N, and M status for br=
east
cancer |
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/td>
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| For many tumor sites there will b=
e 24
possible combinations of T, N and M, and for some tumor sites even more.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> |
|
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| To
simplify the description the categories can be grouped together as a stage
grouping and given a Roman numeral stage (Stage I, II, III, and IV). TIS =
is
Tumor in Situ. |
|
| =
|
| For
the clinician there are two problems. Firstly, the tumor grade, node grade
and presence / absence of distant metastases never match in any single
patient as shown in the table above. |
| Thus,
T may be at a lower grade but N may be higher. Or there may even be
metastases in the absence of nodes, irrespective of tumor size. |
|
| That
gives rise to the second problem of quickly determining the stage of canc=
er
by combining the 3 categories. The stage always corresponds to the highest
category. |
|
| The
tool described in this document provides an automated method to quickly
establish the stage based on the T, N, and M categories fed into the syst=
em |
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| =
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| =
|
| Start the staging |
|
| =
|
| This
interactive tool has been created for the students of USAIM by |
|
| Dr
S. Sanyal MBBS; MS (Surgery); ADPHA (Public Health); MSc (Health Informat=
ics,
Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh) |
|
| Associate
Professor |
|
| Faculty
of Gross Clinical Anatomy and Neurosciences |
|
| University
of Seychelles American Institute of Medicine (USAIM) |
|
| Seychelles |
|
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| Last
updated on 3 March 2008 |
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