If the diagnosis is mesothelioma, your doctor will need to know the stage of your disease. Staging defines how far the cancer has spread from its original location to other parts of the body and to what extend. Your treatment options are determined based on how advanced your mesothelioma is, or in other words, the stage of mesothelioma you have.
There are three widely referred staging systems used for pleural mesothelioma, these staging systems include:
The Brigham System, the latest system, which stages mesothelioma according to the ability to surgically remove it and lymph node involvement.
The Butchart Staging System, based upon how far the disease has spread to and invaded other organs.
The TNM system, which considers variables of tumor mass and spread, involvement of lymph nodes, and metastasis.
There is no established staging system for peritoneal mesothelioma. The clinical staging systems are considered inadequate due to the way the disease spreads.
The Brigham Staging System
The Brigham staging system is based on whether the mesothelioma can be removed by surgery and whether the lymph nodes are involved.
Stage 1:
Mesothelioma can be removed with surgery and there are no lymph nodes containing cancer cells.
Stage 2:
Mesothelioma can be removed with surgery but there are lymph nodes containing cancer cells.
Stage 3:
Mesothelioma can not be removed with surgery because it has spread into the chest wall, heart, or through the diaphragm into the peritoneum. There may or may not be lymph nodes containing cancer cells.
Stage 4:
Mesothelioma has spread through the bloodstream to other organs in the body such as the liver, brain or bone.
The Butchart staging system
The Butchart staging system is based on how far the disease has spread to and invaded other organs, it is divided into four stages:
Stage 1:
Mesothelioma is in the pleura on the right or left side only. It may have grown into the covering of the heart and the diaphragm.
Stage 2:
Mesothelioma has grown into the chest wall. It may be in the pleura on both sides. It may also have grown into the esophagus, heart, or lymph nodes in the chest.
Stage 3:
Mesothelioma has penetrated to the abdominal cavity. It may be found in lymph nodes beyond the chest.
Stage 4:
Mesothelioma has spread through the bloodstream to other organs.
The TNM system
The TNM system is the most common staging system used for mesothelioma patients. The acronym stands for T - tumor, N - lymph nodes, and M - metastasis. It is divided into four stages
Stage 1:
Mesothelioma affects the right or left pleura and may have grown into the covering of the heart and the diaphragm.
Stage 2:
Mesothelioma has spread to both layers of the pleura on the same side of the body.
Stage 3:
Mesothelioma has spread to the chest wall, esophagus or lymph nodes on the same side of the chest.
Stage 4:
Mesothelioma has spread through the bloodstream to other organs in the body such as the liver, brain or bone or to lymph nodes on the other side of the chest.
Malignant mesothelioma moves up through four stages, each one more serious than the next one. The stage of the Mesothelioma will hlep doctor determines treatment options and helps determine the prognosis of the disease.
