Stages of stomach cancer

Once cancer is found in the stomach, other tests are done to find out if cancer cells have spread to other parts of the body. This process is called staging. The doctor needs to know the stage of the disease in order to plan the appropriate treatment. The following stages are used in the classification of stomach cancer:

Stage 0

Stage 0 stomach cancer is an early-stage cancer. Cancer is only found in the innermost layer of the gastric wall

Stage I

Cancer is in the second or third layer of the gastric wall and has not spread to lymph nodes near the cancer or is in the second layer of the gastric wall and has spread to lymph nodes that are very close to the tumor.

Stage II

Any of the following situations may occur:

  1. The cancer is found in the second layer of the gastric wall and has spread to lymph nodes far from the tumor.
  2. The cancer is only found in the muscular layer (the third layer) of the stomach and has spread to lymph nodes very close to the tumor.
  3. Cancer is found in all four layers of the gastric wall but has not spread to lymph nodes or other organs.

Stage III

Any of the following situations may occur:

  1. The cancer is found in the third layer of the gastric wall and has spread to lymph nodes far from the tumor.
  2. Cancer is found in all four layers of the gastric wall and has spread to lymph nodes that are very close to the tumor or far from the tumor
  3. The cancer is found in all four layers of the gastric wall and has spread to nearby tissues. The cancer may or may not have spread to lymph nodes very close to the tumor.

Stage IV

Cancer has spread to nearby tissues and lymph nodes far from the tumor or has spread to other parts of the body.