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Stages of Oropharyngeal Cancer
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After oropharyngeal cancer has been diagnosed, tests
are done to find out if cancer cells have spread within the oropharynx or to
other parts of the body.
The process used to find out if cancer has spread within the oropharynx or
to other parts of the body is called staging. The information gathered from the staging
process determines the stage of the
disease. It is important to know the stage in order to plan treatment. The results of some of the tests used to diagnose oropharyngeal cancer are often used to stage the disease.
There are three ways that cancer spreads in the body.
The three ways that cancer spreads in the body are:
- Through tissue. Cancer invades the surrounding normal tissue.
- Through the lymph system. Cancer invades the lymph system and travels through the lymph vessels to other places in the body.
- Through the blood. Cancer invades the veins and capillaries and travels through the blood to other places in the body.
When cancer cells break away from the primary (original) tumor and travel through the lymph or blood to other places in the body, another (secondary) tumor may form. This process is called metastasis. The secondary (metastatic) tumor is the same type of cancer as the primary tumor. For example, if breast cancer spreads to the bones, the cancer cells in the bones are actually breast cancer cells. The disease is metastatic breast cancer, not bone cancer.
The following stages are used for oropharyngeal
cancer:
Stage 0 (Carcinoma in Situ)
In stage 0, abnormal cells are found in the lining of the oropharynx.
These abnormal cells may become cancer and spread into nearby normal tissue. Stage 0 is also called carcinoma in
situ.
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| Pea, peanut, walnut, and lime show tumor sizes. |
Stage I
In stage I, cancer has formed and is
2 centimeters or smaller and has not spread outside the oropharynx.
Stage II
In stage II, the cancer is larger than 2 centimeters, but not larger than 4 centimeters, and has not spread outside the oropharynx.
Stage III
In stage III, the cancer is either:
- larger than 4 centimeters and has not spread outside the oropharynx; or
- any size and has spread to only one lymph node on the same side of the neck as the cancer. The lymph node with cancer is 3 centimeters or smaller.
Stage IVA
In stage IVA, the cancer either:
- has spread to tissues near the oropharynx, including the voice box, roof of the mouth, lower jaw, muscle of the tongue, or central muscles of the jaw, and may have spread to one or more nearby lymph nodes, none larger than 6 centimeters; or
- is any size and has spread to one lymph node that is larger than 3 centimeters but not larger than 6 centimeters on the same side of the neck as the cancer, or to more than one lymph node, none larger than 6 centimeters, on one of both sides of the neck.
Stage IVB
In stage IVB, the cancer either:
- surrounds the main artery in the neck or has spread to bones in the jaw or skull, to muscle in the side of the jaw, or to the upper part of the throat behind the nose, and may have spread to nearby lymph nodes; or
- has spread to a lymph node that is larger than 6 centimeters and may have spread to tissues around the oropharynx.
Stage IVC
In stage IVC, cancer has spread to other parts of the body; the tumor may be any size and may have spread to lymph nodes.
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