Cancer - General

What is staging?

Staging describes the extent or severity of an individual’s cancer based on the extent of the original (primary) tumor and the extent of spread in the body. Staging is important:

• Staging helps the doctor plan a person’s treatment.
• The stage can be used to estimate the person’s prognosis (likely outcome or course of the disease).

According to the doctors at the Stanford Comprehensive Cancer Center, there is no single test that can accurately diagnose cancer. Complete evaluation usually requires a thorough history and physical examination along with diagnostic testing. Many tests are needed to determine whether a person has cancer, or if another condition (such as an infection) is mimicking the symptoms of cancer.