Colorectal cancer staging
Disease description:
For unknown reasons, I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. I've heard that colorectal cancer is staged—what does staging of colorectal cancer mean?
Doctor's answer (1)
Dr. Guo Lihong
The staging of colorectal cancer is primarily based on three aspects. First is the depth of tumor invasion—the deeper the tumor invades, the more advanced the stage of the disease. Second is lymph node metastasis around the tumor—the greater the number of regional lymph nodes involved, the more advanced the disease stage. Third is metastasis to other organs in the body; once distant metastasis occurs, the cancer is classified as stage IV. Common sites of distant metastasis in colorectal cancer are the liver and lungs.
