Difference between stage III A,C etc

vchildbeloved
vchildbeloved Member Posts: 133
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi, My name is Valerie, age 51. I was recently diagnosed with Stage III colon cancer with 1 lymph node testing positive out of 18. Had my surgery on the 21st of April and will start chemo treatment on May 19th. I was reading several of the post and was wondering a couple of things: 1) why some people can have a positive node removed and my doctor told me that I couldn't. 2) why some people have radiation with chemo, again my doctor told me that where mine was located that radiation was not an option. 3) what is the difference between stage IIIA and a stage D? My treatment will be a combo of leucovorin, 5FU, Oxialiplatin, and possibly Erbitux.

Thanks guys,
God bless us all!!

Comments

  • davidsonxx
    davidsonxx Member Posts: 134
    #2
    The only reason I can think of that would prevent the removal of an involved node is its location. If the node is too close to a major blood supply or nerve it can make the removal too dangerous to attempt. That would also apply treating it with radiation as well since surrounding tissue receives some damage from radiation treatment. There could be other reasons that I am not aware of. I would encourage you to go to your doctor with these questions. I know my doctor had to tell me some of the stuff more than once before it really sank in. I would also encourage you to consider getting a second opinion. It can really help put your mind at ease that you are getting the best treatment for your particular situation.
  • Moesimo
    Moesimo Member Posts: 1,072 Member
    #3
    You need to ask your doctor why the node wasn't removed. I had stage 3 rectal cancer with 2 out of 12 nodes positive. But they were all removed. A means you have only 1 or 2 nodes positive. That make someone stage 3 instead of 2. Radiation is only given for rectal cancer.

    Welcome to our group. Maureen
  • pamness
    pamness Member Posts: 524 Member
    #4
    How did they know the node was positive? Usually they do a biopsy on all the nodes removed during surgery. They see how many total nodes were removed then they find out how many were positive. How did they know you had one out of 18 positive unless they removed them? I had radiation and I had colon cancer - not rectal. I I guess there are places in the colon they would rather not subect to radiation. The staging of colon cancer depends on a number of things - if you are stage III it is my understanding that there are no other organs involved. If you have less than three positive lymph nodes it is usually IIIA - if you have more it moves up to IIIB but I am not sure what the limits are in the number of nodes and I don't know what makes something IIIC or D. I do know that staging can vary a bit from place to place. You should ask your doctor these questions. I would like to know what you find out, I am quite perplexed by the lymph node question.

    Are you being treated at a major cancer center.

    Pam
  • rmap59
    rmap59 Member Posts: 266
    #5
    Hi Valerie,
    If you will go to the home page here at ACS and at the top where it says search type in cancer staging, then scroll down the page to cancer staging for colon and rectal cancer it will give you all the info on the stages and what the letters and numbers mean. Good Luck.
    Robin
  • vchildbeloved
    vchildbeloved Member Posts: 133
    #6
    pamness said:

    How did they know the node was positive? Usually they do a biopsy on all the nodes removed during surgery. They see how many total nodes were removed then they find out how many were positive. How did they know you had one out of 18 positive unless they removed them? I had radiation and I had colon cancer - not rectal. I I guess there are places in the colon they would rather not subect to radiation. The staging of colon cancer depends on a number of things - if you are stage III it is my understanding that there are no other organs involved. If you have less than three positive lymph nodes it is usually IIIA - if you have more it moves up to IIIB but I am not sure what the limits are in the number of nodes and I don't know what makes something IIIC or D. I do know that staging can vary a bit from place to place. You should ask your doctor these questions. I would like to know what you find out, I am quite perplexed by the lymph node question.

    Are you being treated at a major cancer center.

    Pam

    Hi Pam, no I am not being treated at a major cancer center. I am a Kaiser member;regular medical hospital which has a cancer unit.
  • kat1960
    kat1960 Member Posts: 14
    #7
    I was diagnosed in Nov with stage IIIA colon cancer, 2 out of 18 nodes positive. As Pam said, the only way they can tell if a node is positive is to do the pathology on it - which means removing it along with all the others and the cancerous portion of the colon. Your surgeon should confirm this and also confirm radiation is not necessary in these instances because the cancer is removed and chemo will most likely kill any floating cells. I had surgery and am being treated at a major hospital in a major city and the hospital has a cancer center with cancer teams.
    Good luck, it sounds very optimistic!!
    Kathy M.

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