Staging determines the degree to which the cancer has spread and thus how it should be treated. For CTCL, staging is as follows:
Stage I: The cancer is contained in the skin, which has red scaly patches, but no tumors. Lymph nodes are of normal size.
Stage II: The skin may have red scaly patches, but no tumors. Lymph nodes do not contain cancer cells but are larger than normal. Or, there may be tumors on the skin, while the lymph nodes are not cancerous and are normal size or larger than normal.
Stage III: Almost all of the patient's skin is red and scaly. The lymph nodes are not cancerous but are either normal size or are larger than normal.
Stage IV: The skin is red and scaly and cancer is found in the lymph nodes or the cancer has spread to the liver, lungs or other organs.
Recurrent: The cancer has come back after it has been treated. It may recur where it originated or in another part of the body.
Copyright © 2000 Oncology.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
