Stage Information
Salivary Gland Cancer (PDQ®): Treatment
Patient Version
From National Cancer Institute: cancer.gov website:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancer_information/doc_pdq.aspx?version=0&
summaryid=208_01455
Date Last Modified: 06/2002
Stage Information
Stages of cancer of the salivary gland
Once cancer of the salivary gland is found, more tests will be done to
find out if cancer cells have spread to other parts of the body. This
is called staging. A doctor needs to know the stage of the disease to
plan treatment. Salivary gland cancers are also classified by "grade",
which tells how fast the cancer cells grow, based on how the cells look
under a microscope. Low-grade cancers grow more slowly than high-grade
cancers.
The following stages are used for cancer of the salivary gland:
Stage I
The cancer is no more than 4 centimeters in diameter (about 1 1/2 inches)
and has not spread into the tissue around it or to the lymph nodes in
the area (lymph nodes are small bean-shaped structures that are found
throughout the body; they produce and store infection-fighting cells).
Stage II
Either of the following may be true:
The cancer is no more than 4 centimeters in diameter and has spread into
the skin, soft tissue, bone, or nerve around the gland. The cancer has
not spread to lymph nodes in the area.
The cancer is between 4 and 6 centimeters in diameter (a little over 2
inches) and has not spread into the tissue around it or to lymph nodes
in the area.
Stage III
The cancer is no more than 4 centimeters in diameter and has not spread
into the skin, soft tissue, bone, or nerve around the gland, but has spread
to a single lymph node in the same area.
Stage IV
Any of the following may be true:
The cancer is more than 6 centimeters in diameter and has spread into
the skin, soft tissue, bone, or nerve around the gland. The cancer may
or may not have spread to the lymph nodes.
The cancer is any size and has spread to more than one lymph node on the
same side of the neck as the cancer, to lymph nodes on one or both sides
of the neck, or to any lymph node and measures more than 6 centimeters
in diameter.
The cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
Recurrent
Recurrent disease means that the cancer has come back (recurred) after
it has been treated. It may come back in the salivary gland or in another
part of the body.
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