A word about stageing

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has issued new staging guidelines (as of this year), and have done away with the IVa stage. It's now all stage IV, whether the distant site is an organ or lymph node. I see some doctors are still using the old terminology. This can be deceiving, making patients think their IVa prognosis is any better than stage IV. It's not, sorry to say.

Comments

  • mrsbotch
    mrsbotch Member Posts: 349
    Hi
    How are you my dear Lu. I have wanted to call you so much. If you feel up to it and find the time please call me


    Barbara
  • mruble
    mruble Member Posts: 174
    Good point
    You make a good point, Callaloo. It seems like they change staging guidelines fairly frequently. I know about two months after my husband was diagnosed as IVa, that things changed and had be been diagnosed after that, he would have been considered a stage III instead.

    Mary