Ovarian Cancer Stage

Staging of ovarian cancer is basically done to find out how far the cancer has spread and it holds importance in the disease because different ovarian cancers are treated differently and have different prognosis at different stages.



If a specialist fails to stage the cancer accurately, then the cancer which is already spread to other parts of the body can be missed out. At the time of surgical evaluation of ovarian cancer, stages are determined. Ovarian cancer is mainly divided in to four stages - stage 1, stage 2, stage 3 and stage 4.



Stage 1 is considered the earliest stage whereas stage 4 is considered the advanced stage or end stage ovarian cancer. Each stages of ovarian cancer describe the size and extend to which the cancer has spread.

Ovarian Cancer Stages

• Stage 1 - Stage 1 ovarian cancer is confined to either one or both ovaries.
  
  
  
  This ovarian cancer stage is again divided in stage 1A, stage 1B and stage 1C.

• Stage 1A, the cancer is present in only one ovary and not on the outside surface or organs.
• Like stage 1A, in stage 2B the cancer has not spread on the outer surface of ovaries or other organs but is confined in both the ovaries.
• With stage 1C, besides cancer being present in one or both ovaries the cancer cells may also be present on the outer cells of the ovaries. Additionally rupture of the outer wall of the cystic ovarian tumor may occur and cancer cells may also be present in tissue samples taken from abdomen.

• Stage 2 - Stage 2 ovarian cancer is present in one or both the ovaries and has also spread to other locations in the pelvis like fallopian tubes or uterus or both.

• Stage 2A is the stage where the cancer is present in one or both the ovaries and has spread to fallopian tubes or uterus but not in the abdomen.
• In stage 2B the cancer besides being present in one or both the ovaries has also spread to other organs in the pelvic region like colon, bladder, uterus and rectum.
• In stage 2C the cancer besides being present in one or both ovaries, have spread to fallopian tubes, uterus, sigmoid colon, bladder or rectum. In addition cancer cells may also be found in the tissue samples taken from abdomen.

• Stage 3 - In stage 3 ovarian cancer, the cancerous cells besides being present in the ovaries have also spread to other organs in the pelvis, the abdominal lining and to the nearby lymph nodes.

• Stage 3A ovarian cancer is present in one or both the ovaries and in some parts of abdomen in small amounts.
• Stage 3B ovarian cancer besides being present in one or both the ovaries is also found in abdomen (less than 2 centimeters).
  
  
  
  
• Stage 3C ovarian cancer is present when one or both the ovaries have cancerous cells and the cancer is also spread to nearby lymph nodes and some parts of abdomen.

• Stage 4 - In stage 4 ovarian cancer, cancerous cells are found not only in one or both the ovaries but also present in other organs of the body like lungs or liver. Stage IV ovarian cancer is considered the most advanced stage of the disease.