The most common staging system for oral cancer is the tnm system.
Floor of the mouth cancer staging.
For oral cancer there are 5 stages stage 0 followed by stages 1 to 4.
Cancer of the floor of the mouth these are usually squamous cancers that arise as a sore under the edge of the tongue the floor of mouth see picture 1 and picture 2 these cancers can be treated with surgery or radiation see nccn guidelines for early or advanced lesions and the radiation dose see.
The stage of mouth cancer tells you its size and depth and whether it has spread.
Using tobacco products particularly chewing tobacco and regularly drinking too much alcohol can increase your chances of developing.
Nci site nci patient site nih booklet acs site mayo clinic and side effects.
The extent of the t umor t.
Generally the higher the stage number the more the cancer has spread.
The staging system most often used for oral cavity or oropharyngeal cancers is the american joint committee on cancer ajcc tnm system which is based on 3 key pieces of information.
This page is about the tnm stages for cancers starting in the mouth.
Tnm stages for mouth cancer.
Talk to your doctor if you have questions about staging.
How large is the main primary tumor and which if any tissues of the oral cavity or oropharynx it has spread to.
Often the stages 1 to 4 are written as the roman numerals i ii iii and iv.
An estimated 49 670 people will be diagnosed with oral cavity cancer or oropharyngeal cancer in 2017 according to the american cancer society and 9 700 of these cases will be.