inspiring canadians to live better.

healthing leaf

inspiring canadians to live better.

healthing leaf
get healthing in your inbox with the morning checkup and weekender newsletter!
home / our partners / save your skin foundation

melanoma staging - what do they mean?

staging is commonly used in melanoma diagnosis and trea...

by save your skin foundation
published jan 29, 2021
read time 1 minute read
join the conversation
read time 1 minute read
join the conversation
staging is commonly used in melanoma diagnosis and treatment to indicate the advancement and severity of cancer in a patient. melanoma stages range between 0-iv based on the tnm (tumour, nodes, metastasis) system. the tnm system is dictated by the size of the primary (first) tumour, the occurrence of cancer cells in the surrounding lymph nodes, whether the cancer has metastasized (spread to other regions in the body), and whether there is ulceration (if there is ulceration, the skin covering the melanoma cannot clearly be seen). while these figures can be intimidating in the later stages, the staging system is imperative for dictating the treatment process a patient will undergo.stage 0 is thin melanoma which has not penetrated (invaded) the deeper layers of the skin (in situ).stages i and ii are melanomas that are limited to the skin. these melanomas vary in how thick they are and whether the skin covering the melanoma is ulcerated or not. thicker melanomas and ulcerated melanomas have a higher risk of recurring.stage iii is melanoma that has spread from the original site of your melanoma to 1 or more of the nearby lymph nodes or to the nearby skin/tissue in between. stage iii melanoma is divided into 4 groups, a, b, c, and d.stage iv is melanoma that has spread farther than regional lymph nodes, to distant sites such as the lung, liver, or brain.         
powered by
save your skin foundation

comments

postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. we ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. we have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. visit our community guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

you may also like
kathy
kathy’s story
chris - save your skin
chris' story
garry
garry’s journey
shutterstock_141478666
types of skin cancer
1890729
skin cancer treatments
you may also like
kathy
kathy’s story
chris - save your skin
chris' story
garry
garry’s journey
shutterstock_141478666
types of skin cancer
you may also like
kathy
kathy’s story
chris - save your skin
chris' story