Stage IVa

It looks like Pop's has an updated diagnosis of his cancer to a Stage IVa. Here is some information from the OncologyChannel regarding Staging of Head and Neck Cancer.

"Staging is the process of describing the extent to which cancer has spread from the site of its origin. It is used to assess a patient's prognosis and to determine the choice of therapy. The stage of a cancer is determined by the size and location in the body of the primary tumor, and whether it has spread to other areas of the body."

"Staging involves using the letters T, N and M to assess tumors by:"

"-the size of the primary tumor (T);
-the degree to which regional lymph nodes (N) are involved. Lymph nodes are small organs located along the channels of the body's lymphatic system which store special cells that fight infection and other diseases); and
-the absence or presence of distant metastases (M) - cancer that has spread from the original (primary) tumor to distant organs or distant lymph nodes."

"Each of these is categories is further classified with a number 1 through 4 to give the total stage. Thus a T1-N1-M0 cancer would describe a T1 tumor, N1 lymph node involvement, and no metastases."

"Once the T, N and M are determined, a "stage" of I, II, III or IV is assigned:"

"-Stage I cancers are small, localized and usually curable.
-Stage II and III cancers typically are locally advanced and/or have spread to local lymph nodes.
-Stage IV cancers usually are metastatic (have spread to distant parts of the body) and generally are considered inoperable."

"The staging system for head and neck cancers is a bit complicated. Though the nodal and metastasis staging systems are the same for all the different anatomical regions of the head and neck, the tumor staging systems are different. The nodal and metastasis staging systems are outlined below. Each region's tumor staging system is presented separately on one of the linked pages."