Cancer Diagnosis

We are accredited to treat any type of cancer - no matter what the diagnosis is, Carson Tahoe is here to help.

Detection is not the Same thing as diagnosis. Lumps, growths and other abnormalities or symptoms can be detected by a patient or doctor. The abnormality will then be carefully diagnosed to determine the specific cause and treatment options.

A diagnosis will require a variety of tests to investigate whether the abnormality is caused by cancer and what type of cancer it may be. For instance, a patient may notice a lump caused by breast cancer, but a diagnosis will explain how advanced it is and what specific type it is (i.e. if it is started in the lobes it is “lobular” or if it is started in the ducts it is “ductal”).
 
Cancer Staging

The stage of cancer determines how far it has spread. Once cancer is properly diagnosed, it is important to determine what stage it is in. Treatment depends on what stage cancer is in and some cancers, like leukemia, cannot be staged. Carson Tahoe’s healthcare team will be able to evaluate and discuss treatment options once the stage is correctly identified.

TNM is the most common type of cancer staging systems. “T” stands for the size of the tumor, “N” stands for the number of lymph nodes involved, and “M” stands for metastasis. The TNM staging system will evaluate all three of these factors to assign a stage to the cancer, usually between 0 and 4. In general, the lower the stage of the cancer, the better the treatment prognosis (outcome).

Stage 0 – precancer
Stage 1 – small cancer found only in the organ where it started
Stage 2 – larger cancer that may or may not have spread to the lymph nodes
Stage 3 – larger cancer that is also in the lymph nodes
Stage 4 – cancer in a different organ from where it started