Stages - AOI

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When and how does my doctor determine the stage of my colorectal cancer?

If your gastroenterologist determines a colon polyp is cancerous, he/she may prescribe you additional imaging tests such as a CT scan which may even help to stage the cancer.

Colorectal cancer stages refer to how far a cancer has spread in or around the colon or rectum area. This will also help determine your rectum and colon cancer treatment.

What are the stages of colorectal cancer?

There are 5 colorectal cancer stages: Stage 0 to Stage 4. While stage 0 is the earliest stage where the abnormal cells found may be cancerous or precancerous, stage 4 is the advanced stage. During this last stage the cancer cells are found to have metastasized to the distant sites and different organs.

What is stage 0 colorectal cancer?

This is the earliest stage of cancer as the cancerous cells haven’t moved from their place of origin; it’s still restricted to the innermost lining of the colon or rectum.

Stage 0 is also called carcinoma in situ. Abnormal cells found in stage 0 colorectal cancer may be cancerous or precancerous.

What is stage I colorectal cancer?

In stage I, cancer has spread to intestinal wall through mucosa or the inner lining of the colon and from there to the next layer; submucosa and may have entered the muscle. At this early stage, the cancer has not yet spread to lymph nodes or distant organs.

What is stage II colorectal cancer?

Stage II colorectal cancer is divided into three categories:

Stage IIA: The cancer has grown into the outermost layer of the colon or rectum, also called as serosa. It has not spread to nearby organs or lymph nodes or to the distant organs.

Stage IIB: During this stage, the cancer has grown through all the layers of the colon or rectum, but has not spread to lymph nodes or distant organs yet.

Stage IIC: The cancer at this stage has grown through all the layers of the intestine. It has also grown into nearby organs or tissues. However, the cancer has still not spread to the lymph nodes or distant organs yet.

What is stage III colorectal cancer?

In stage III, cancer is divided into the stage IIIA, stage IIIB, and stage IIIC, respectively.

Stage IIIA: The cancer at this stage has grown into the intestine wall and may have entered the muscle. Also, the cancer has spread to upto three lymph nodes near the site of the primary tumor.

Stage IIIB: The cancer has grown into or through the outermost layer of the colon or rectum and may have spread into nearby organs or tissues as well.

The cancer has spread to upto three lymph nodes near the primary site, but has not spread to the distant organs yet.

Stage IIIC: During this stage, the cancer has grown into or through the outermost layer of the colon or rectum and may have also spread to four or more lymph nodes near the primary site. The cancer has also spread to nearby organs.

What is stage IV colorectal cancer?

Also called as advanced stage of colorectal cancer, abnormal cells at this stomach cancer stage 4 have metastasized to the distant sites, such as the liver or lungs. At this stage, the cancer may or may not have grown through the wall of the colon or rectum, and lymph nodes may or may not have been affected.

Colorectal cancer stage IV is further divided into two categories, depending on whether or not the metastasis has affected more than one organ.

The original tumor can be of any size, but if the cancer has spread to even one organ it is considered stage IVA, and if it’s more than one organ, it would be defined as stage IVB.

Can a CT scan detect bowel cancer?

Although the main test used to look for bowel cancer is a colonoscopy, other tests used to diagnose bowel cancer include CT colonography and sigmoidoscopy.

What is the stage 3 colon cancer life expectancy without treatment?

With treatment, stage 3 colon cancer patient has about a 40 % chance of the cure. But without treatment, the chances of survival go further down as the cancer is a progressive disease and the abnormal cells start spreading aggressively to the distant parts of body.

What are the common colon cancer stage 1 symptoms?

Common symptoms of colon cancer include: change in bowel habits, such as diarrhea or constipation, rectal bleeding, dark stools or blood in the stool, abdominal pain, weakness, etc.

But these symptoms are also caused by something that isn’t cancer. However, many people with colon cancer experience no symptoms in the early stages of colon cancer.

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