Many cases of cancer have been missed due to poor patient assessment. Therefore, the diagnosis begins with an appropriate assessment and analysis of the patients’ signs and symptoms. The assessment involves determining the presence of tissue growths and lumps in the affected areas. For cancer affecting internal organs, imaging techniques such as endoscopy and laparoscopy are used. Subsequently, the sample from the tissue mass or fluid in the affected areas is drawn for cytological and histological tests. Cancer is characterized by the abnormal growth of the body cells; therefore, the diagnosis is based on analyzing the size, shape, and other morphological characteristics of the cells. On the other hand, there are also cancer antigen markers used in the diagnosis. Though, caution must be taken to avoid reporting either false-negative or false-positive results. The common cancer antigen markers include the prostate-specific antigen, the prostatic acid phosphatase, the CA 125, carcinoembryonic antigen alpha-fetoprotein, the human chorionic gonadotrophin, and CA 19-9. These biomarkers are normally produced by the body cells; however, elevated readings may indicate abnormal cell growth in the specific regions.
The cancer staging depends on the size of the mass, and whether the cells have metastasized or not. The staging helps in determining the treatment method to use as well as the survival rate. Commonly, the staging is based on the TNM system. The TNM is an acronym for the tumor, node, and metastasis (Cancer staging, n.d.). The tumor is graded from 0-4 depending on the size. On the other hand, the node is graded from 0-3 depending on the number of lymph nodes affected. Finally, the metastasis is graded from 0 to 1 depending on whether the cancer cells have spread to other parts of the body. Based on the TNM score, cancer can be categorized as either stage 1, 2, 3, or 4. At stage 1, the cancer is small and has not spread to other parts of the body. Stage II and III mean that the cancer is large and has grown to the nearby tissues and lymph nodes (Cancer staging, n.d.). In stage IV, cancer has spread to other parts of the body and this means that the treatment also becomes extremely complex.
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