How Cancer Stage Impacts Treatment

For most people, a cancer diagnosis prompts questions like, Will I need treatments like chemotherapy or radiation? Is it curable? It’s common to want to know both your options and your outcomes.

Before your healthcare provider can answer these questions, they’ll need to determine a key piece of information: your cancer stage. Cancer staging tells providers how advanced the cancer is. It helps them plan treatments and shape your expectations about what comes next.

Nothing can replace your provider’s explanation of how cancer stage impacts treatment. But there are some general things to know that may help.

Cancer stages are on a continuum

Understanding cancer stages can be tough because staging systems differ. But most involve a scale that goes from least advanced (early stage) to most advanced (late stage). Early-stage cancers typically involve less intensive treatments. They’re more likely to be curable. Late-stage cancer treatments may focus on slowing cancer spread or relieving symptoms.

Healthcare providers use the TNM system to stage most cancers. They assign a number that goes from zero (0) to four (IV). The higher the number, the more advanced the cancer stage.

Lower numbers usually mean smaller tumors that providers can remove. Higher numbers mean cancers that have spread to places like your lymph nodes or distant organs.

Localized therapies treat localized tumors

Early-stage cancers, like Stage I cancer, tend to involve “localized” tumors. This means that cancer is only in one area. The main treatment gets rid of cancer in that particular location.

Surgery is the main type of localized treatment. But radiation, which directs focused beams of energy to a tumor, is also an option. Providers sometimes suggest ablation therapy. This treatment kills diseased tissue with extreme heat or cold.

Systemic therapies treat cancers that have spread

For more advanced cancers, you’ll likely need treatment that travels through your bloodstream. These treatments destroy cancer throughout your body. Chemotherapy, hormone therapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapy are all examples. They usually involve taking pills or getting shots or infusions (IV) on a schedule.

These treatments can destroy cancer cells that are too spread out for your provider to remove. They can also treat cancer cells that localized therapies miss.

Cancer stage impacts your entire treatment plan

Your cancer stage helps your healthcare provider know which treatments you need and when. This is important because most cancer treatments aren’t “one and done.” They usually involve several treatments and monitoring.

For example, your provider may monitor Stage 0 cancers that don’t pose risks. You may only need surgery if the cancer progresses. The primary treatment for a Stage III tumor may be surgery. But because of its size, you may need radiation to shrink it first. You may need treatment after surgery to reduce the risk of cancer returning.

Ultimately, cancer stage has everything to do with the treatments your provider recommends. This is why it’s important to ask them what it is — and how it will shape your cancer care plan.