Colon cancer is a leading cause in cancer deaths in United States, Europe and Japan. This happens because the cancer is diagnosed in one of the last stages of its evolution, because the lack of symptoms in the first stages does not indicate the presence of a disease.

Colon cancer is staged in five stages form zero to four according to the tumors growth and spread. Of course, in the earliest stages the cancer is easier to treat while in the last stages it often involves the patient death. Colon cancer staging is made with the purpose to establish the disease evolution and the areas of extension. This is made by doctors after tests to be able to establish the best treatment which might be used in every case.



The colon cancer stage is estimated according to the penetration of the tumors depending on the extent of local invasion, the degree of lymph node involvement and the number and places where metastasis were formed, if the case. Colon cancer staging can be made usually after surgery or colonoscopy. Doctors make rapports after medical interventions and they establish the exact phase of the cancer. A stage of this kind of cancer can be established also according to an endoscopic ultrasound. The colon cancer metastasis can be staged using abdominal ultrasounds, CT or PET scans depending on the tumor location.

One of the most used staging of colon cancer is the system used by the American Committee on Cancer, system which regards tumors, nodes and metastases. Though this staging system is analyzed the degree of the lymphatic node involvement, the degree of metastasis and the invasion of the intestinal wall. This is how colon cancer stages form zero to four are numbered and formed.



The most common test used to determine the stage of colon cancer after the disease has been discovered and diagnosed are the CT scan, the magnetic resonance imaging, the lymph node biopsy and the CEA Assay. The CT scan is a type of x-ray which rotates around the individual body and gives the doctor a clear view of the bones. The magnetic resonance imaging is the use of radio waves and magnets, which provide the possibility to see soft tissues. The lymph node biopsy is the check of lymph nodes which provides a clear imagine about the evolution of the cancer outside the colon and to the colon wall. The CEA Assay is a useful test for searching abnormal levels of carcinoembryonic antigen in the individual blood.

Staging colon cancer is not a difficult thing to do. Test and medical techniques have been developed and today, the establishment of the exact colon cancer stage is quite easy in all patients’ cases.