The main reason for staging esophageal cancer is to know the intensity and extensiveness of its prevalence. This is found to be very important as treatments for esophageal cancer are often based on the cancer stages. Even though scans and other tests can provide some amount of information regarding the stage of esophageal cancer, the doctor might not be very certain about it unless and until surgery is performed on the patients.
There are actually various methods for staging esophageal cancer. Mainly two methods are adopted. One is called the number system and the other one is called the TNM system. TNM denotes Tumour, Nodes and Metastasis. This system is capable of describing the primary tumour's size, if the lymph nodes are affected by cancer and if the disease has spread over to various body parts or not. Esophageal cancer tumour size can be denoted as T1 – cancer cells found within the esophagus's inner layer or submucosa, T2- cancer cells found in the esophagus's muscle layer or muscularis, T3- cancer cells penetrated into the membrane covering the esophagu's exterior and T4 – where the cancerous cells have develop inside other body structures or organs near the food pipe.
N staging of esophageal cancer can be staged in two possible ways. The N0 stage refers to the cancerous cells not present in the lymph nodes while the N1 stage refers to the presence of cancerous cells nearby the lymph nodes. Metastasis stages of esophageal cancer too can be determined in two methods as M0 meaning no cancer is spread near the organs of the esophagus and M1 means that the cancerous cells have spread to various body parts.
The numbering esophageal cancer stages can be divided into five main stages known as stage 0, stage 1, stage 2, stage 3 and stage 4. During Stage 0 the presence of cancerous cells are confined within the esophageal lining and hence not diagnosed. They might be with few or without any symptoms. The risk of cancer spreading to other areas is very low. During stage 1 the malignant cells are seen in the esophageal top layers or in very less area in the esophagus. In stage 2 malignant cells might have grown in the esophageal wall muscle layer or in the lymph nodes nearby. Stage 3 denotes that the cancerous cells are found in the lymph nodes nearby and to the body tissues near the esophagus, but might not have spread to various body parts. Stage 4 can be further subdivided into stage iva and stage ivb. Stage iva signifies the spread of cancer to lymph nodes situated at a distance and stage ivb signifies that it has spread to other body parts. Hence out of all stage stage ivb is said to have the highest risk of survival as it is the last known stage so far.
Natural Remedies:
There are certain natural remedies that offer a promising cure for esophageal cancer. Along with the natural remedies and a well-researched different diet pattern, a few simple adjustments to your lifestyle can make a huge difference to your efforts for prolonging the life for several years. You can increase your chances of surviving esophagus cancer now by trying these proven natural remedies discussed here