Stages of Colon Cancer

Colon cancer is a disease that involves formation of malignant cells in the large intestine. After the patient has been diagnosed for colon cancer, it is necessary to determine the cancer stage. Stages of colon cancer tell how far the cancer has spread. Once a doctor analyzes the cancer stage, the treatment can be planned accordingly. If the tumors are caught in their early stages, the treatment generally involves removing cancer from the affected organ. The doctor uses a number of tools such as CT Scan, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), etc to know the stages of colon cancer.

Stages of Colon Cancer
Colon cancer stages have been numbered from 0 to 4. Higher the number, lesser are the chances of survival. As the cancer progresses, the abnormal cells grow in the surrounding tissues and eventually spread to other parts of the body.

Stage 0 Colon Cancer
This is is the first stage and is also referred as 'Carcinoma Situ'. In this stage the cancerous growth is formed in the innermost layer of the colon wall. Colon cancer is said to be in stage 0 only if it is restricted to where it originated.

Stage 1 Colon Cancer
In this stage, abnormal cells travel through the innermost lining and spread to the middle layers of the colon wall. This stage of cancer is also known as 'Duke's A colon cancer'.

Stage 2 Colon Cancer
Depending on the position of cancer cells, stage 2 is sub divided into two stages:
Stage 2A: Colon cancer will be considered in stage 2A, if the cancer cells have moved beyond the middle layers of the colon wall and have affected the nearby tissues.
Stage 2B: If the cancerous growth is not only around the colon wall, but has also spread beyond it, impacting the surrounding organs, the colon cancer is said to be in stage 2B.
Stage 2 colon cancer is also referred to as 'Duke's B colon cancer'.

Stage 3 Colon Cancer:
This stage is also sub-divided into 3 stages, depending on how far the cancer has advanced.

• Stage 3A: This is the least advanced stage. Here, the cancer has moved from middle layers of the colon wall and has reached 3 nearby lymph nodes.
• Stage 3B: Here, the cancer cells are present in the lymph nodes and in the nearby tissues that surround the colon wall. They also spread throughout the wall and to the nearby organs (bladder or ovaries) and/or penetrate into the tissue that covers the vital organs of the abdomen.
• Stage 3C: The difference between stage 3C and other stages (3A and 3B) of colon cancer is the number of lymph nodes affected. In stage 3C, cancer cells are developed in 4 or more lymph nodes.

Stage 4 Colon Cancer: This is the most advanced stage of colon cancer that can be treated by surgery, namely radiotherapy and chemotherapy. If the cancer cells are found in other organs of the body, such as lungs or liver, the colon cancer is staged at level 4. This stage is also known as 'Duke's D colon cancer'.

New techniques have been developed to detect early stages of colon cancer. Doctors can now switch to some other effective treatments to cure cancer patients as early as possible.