Mesothelioma Staging

IN SHORT

As in any other cancer mesothelioma is staged formally to assess the extent of the disease. TNM is the most widely used staging system. Generally, the lower the stage of the disease is, the better the prognosis will be. Staging is performed radiographically and/or surgically.

Staging is a formal way of finding out how far a cancer has spread. The most widely used staging system is the TNM (short for Tumor, Node, Metastasis). This system is used by both the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) and the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC). This system is only applicable to pleural mesothelioma because this is the most metastasized among the different types of mesothelioma.

TNM staging system
The three pieces of this system relate to specific questions:
T (what is the extent of the primary tumor?)
N (Is there any lymph node involvement?)
M (Has the primary tumor spread to other organs of the body?)

By incorporating the answers you get the whole picture of the cancer. Once the TNM pieces have been assigned, the information is grouped in an overall stage of I, II, III or IV which convey therapeutic and prognostic information. To learn what prognosis each stage carries, check out mesothelioma prognosis.

What's Next?

Mesothelioma Prognosis