Cancer staging?

[hardee17]

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What's the deal with cancer staging? In all my questions I have come across one question from Kaplan that dealt with it, but I haven't seen it anywhere else.

Obviously invasion/mets is bad and the largest predictor of malignancy, and higher grade=less diff, etc.

Do we need to know things like the Ann-Arbor system? Help appreciated.

 

[Suncrusher]

What's the deal with cancer staging?

1. know the general idea between stage 1 (no nodal involvement) and stage 4 (distant mets).

2. be able to apply the "T's" of the "TNM" system to a colon cancer described in a question stem:
T0 (mucosa/carcinoma in situ),
T1 (invasion of submucosa),
T2 (invasion of muscularis propria),
T3 (invasion of serosa),
T4 (invasion of visceral peritoneum [i.e. ready to metastacize] or adjacent organs).

3. understand pap smears:
CIN I means only the epithelial layer of cells of the mucosa is involved;
CIN II means the epithelium all the way to the middle of the mucosa is involved;
CIN III means all the layers of the mucosa is involved, all the way down to the basement membrane (CIN III=carcinoma in situ).

That should get you through step 1 no problem.

 

[hardee17]

1. know the general idea between stage 1 (no nodal involvement) and stage 4 (distant mets).

2. be able to apply the "T's" of the "TNM" system to a colon cancer described in a question stem:
T0 (mucosa/carcinoma in situ),
T1 (invasion of submucosa),
T2 (invasion of muscularis propria),
T3 (invasion of serosa),
T4 (invasion of visceral peritoneum [i.e. ready to metastacize] or adjacent organs).

3. understand pap smears:
CIN I means only the epithelial layer of cells of the mucosa is involved;
CIN II means the epithelium all the way to the middle of the mucosa is involved;
CIN III means all the layers of the mucosa is involved, all the way down to the basement membrane (CIN III=carcinoma in situ).

That should get you through step 1 no problem.

Thanks!

 

[VCorp]

Just a trick question, but know that breast cancer is the only exception to the rule that the most important prognostic factor is nodal involvement, since patients with breast cancer don't really present with metastasis or so. However, any other cancer, the most important prognostic factor is metastasis.

souce: Pathoma

 

[hardee17]

Just a trick question, but know that breast cancer is the only exception to the rule that the most important prognostic factor is nodal involvement, since patients with breast cancer don't really present with metastasis or so. However, any other cancer, the most important prognostic factor is metastasis.

souce: Pathoma

I think you are confusing prognostic with prediction of treatment response. Receptor status is most important for response, lymph nodes are still number one for prognosis.

 

[VCorp]

I think you are confusing prognostic with prediction of treatment response. Receptor status is most important for response, lymph nodes are still number one for prognosis.

 

[hardee17]

That sorta backs up what I said

 

[VCorp]

That sorta backs up what I said

How? Point "2" clearly says that axillary lymph node involvement is the most important prognostic factor. That's exactly what I told you in the post above.

 

[hardee17]

breast cancer is the only exception to the rule that the most important prognostic factor is nodal involvement

axillary lymph node involvement is the most important prognostic factor. That's exactly what I told you in the post above.

....

 

[VCorp]

....

ok dude, no idea what you're spewing, but i know i'm right. not confused with prognostic or prediction. gl!