Cancer : Detailed Guide

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Types of Staging

There are different types of staging:
Clinical staging is an estimate how much cancer there is based on the results of the physical exam, imaging tests (x-rays, CT scans, etc.) and sometimes biopsies of affected areas. For certain cancers the results of other tests, such as blood tests, are also used in staging.

Pathologic staging can only be done on patients who have had surgery to remove or explore the extent of the cancer. It combines the results of clinical staging (physical exam, imaging tests, etc.) with the results from the surgery. In some cases, the pathologic stage may be different from the clinical stage (for example, if the surgery shows the cancer has spread more than it was thought to have spread before surgery.)

Restaging is sometimes used to determine the extent of the disease if a cancer recurs (comes back) after treatment. This is done to help decide what the best treatment option would be at this time. This type of staging is not common.

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