which abbreviation stands for pathological condition

They can also find out other information about your cancer. Your doctor uses information from a tissue sample of your cancer to find out about the stage. This has been confirmed by looking at a tissue sample removed during a biopsy or surgery. PM1 means that cancer measuring more than 0.2 mm has spread to another part of the body. This is seen on scans or felt by the doctor. The cells are found by laboratory tests.ĬM1 means the cancer has spread to another part of the body. But cancer cells are present in the blood, bone marrow, or lymph nodes far away from the breast. M0 means that there is no sign that the cancer has spread.ĬM0(i+) means there is no sign of cancer spread to a different part of the body on physical examination or scans. Metastasis (M) describes whether the cancer has spread to a different part of the body. pN3c means there are cancer cells in lymph nodes above the collarbone.pN3b means there are cancer cells in lymph nodes in the armpit and lymph nodes behind the breastbone.pN3a means there are cancer cells in 10 or more lymph nodes in the armpit and at least one is larger than 2 mm, or there are cancer cells in the nodes below the collarbone.There is no evidence of cancer in the lymph nodes in the armpit. pN2b means there are cancer cells in the lymph nodes behind the breastbone (the internal mammary nodes), which have been seen on a scan or felt by the doctor.pN2a means there are cancer cells in 4 to 9 lymph nodes in the armpit, and at least one is larger than 2 mm.pN1c means there are cancer cells in 1 to 3 lymph nodes in the armpit and in the sentinel lymph nodes behind the breastbone.pN1b means there are cancer cells in the sentinel lymph nodes behind the breastbone (the internal mammary sentinel nodes).pN1a means that there are cancer cells in 1 to 3 lymph nodes in the armpit and at least one is larger than 2 mm.They are larger than 0.2 mm but are less than 2 mm. pN1mi means the cancer cells in the lymph nodes are very small.PN0 means there are no cancer cells in any nearby nodes or only small clusters of cancer cells less than 0.2 mm across (isolated tumour cells). PNX means it is not possible to assess the lymph nodes for example, if they were previously removed. This is a simplified description of the pathological node staging for breast cancer. There are several stages in the pathological node staging. cN3c means there are cancer cells in the lymph nodes above the collarbone.cN3b means there are cancer cells in the lymph nodes around the armpit and behind the breastbone.cN3a means there are cancer cells in the lymph nodes below the collarbone.There is no sign of cancer in the lymph nodes in the armpit. cN2b means there are cancer cells in the lymph nodes behind the breastbone (the internal mammary nodes).cN2a means the cancer cells in the armpit are stuck together or fixed to other areas of the breast such as the muscle.They are larger than 0.2 mm, but no larger than 2 mm. The lymph nodes move a little when they are felt and are not stuck to surrounding tissue.ĬN1mi means the cancer cells in the lymph nodes are very small. This is a simplified description of the clinical node staging for breast cancer.ĬNX means it is not possible to assess the lymph nodes for example, if they were previously removed.ĬN0 means there are no signs of cancer in the lymph nodes following scans and examination.ĬN1 means the cancer cells have spread to one or more lymph nodes in the lower or middle part of the armpit. There are several stages in the clinical node staging. They can help you understand more about your individual node stage. Talk to your doctor about which staging system they have used and why. We have included both clinical and pathological staging here. You might see your pathological stage written as pTNM. Pathological staging means the doctor stages your cancer by using the tissue removed during the operation. You might see your clinical stage written as cTNM. Doctors use clinical staging if you don’t have surgery straight away.

Your doctor might use the clinical staging or the pathological staging.Ĭlinical staging means the doctor stages you after examining you and looking at test and scan results. The diagram below shows the network of lymph nodes around the breast. Node (N) describes whether the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes.

Which abbreviation stands for pathological condition