Pancreatic Cancer Stages: The TNM Classification

The main significance for knowing about pancreatic cancer stages is that it is used by doctors to determine the extent in which the pancreatic cancer has spread. Once the doctor determines this, he or she will then decide on the appropriate course of treatment for the patient. In some cases, the doctor may not be able to tell the exact stage of the cancer until after the patient undergoes surgery. Pancreatic cancer stages are determined through tests and scans. There are two methods used in determining pancreatic cancer stages.

TNM Stages

The acronym ‘TNM’ stands for Tumour, Node, Metastasis. This system describes the size of a primary tumour, detect whether there are lymph nodes which contains cancer cells and whether the cancer has metastasised or spread to other parts of the body. Below are the five stages of tumour size based on the current TNM classification:

• Tis (carcinoma in situ). This is a very early pancreatic cancer stage which has not yet had a chance to spread to other body parts. When speaking of pancreatic cancer, this stage is not at all common.
• T1 means that the tumour is still inside the pancreas and measures 2cm or less going in any direction.
• T2 means that the tumour is still contained within the pancreas but is already more than 2cm going in any direction.
• T3 means that the cancer has already started to spread into tissues surrounding the pancreas. However, it has not yet spread to nearby large blood vessels.
• T4 means that the cancer has already spread further outside the pancreas and into the nearby large blood vessels.
• N0 means that there are no lymph nodes that has cancer cells, while N1 means that there are already lymph nodes containing cancer cells and so the cancer is more than likely to have spread further than the pancreas.

M0 means that the cancer has not yet spread into distant organs, while M1 means that the cancer has already spread to other organs.

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