The best doctors for cervical cancer use stages to describe where the cancer is located and how serious it is. A doctor will first perform all the diagnostic tests and physical examinations to find out what stage of cancer the patient is in. Accurately knowing the stage of cancer helps the medical team to determine what method of treatment will be the best for the patient. Let us understand the overview of different stages of cervical cancer as per the  International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FIGO). 

  • Stage I of cervical cancer: 

A person is said to have Stage I cervical cancer if the top-rated cervical cancer doctors detect cancer cells from the cervix lining into the deeper tissue of the uterus. In this case, cancer has not spread to other parts of the body. This stage can be divided into two parts – IA and IB

  • Stage IA – In this stage, the cancer is diagnosed only by observing the cells or cervical tissue under a microscope. To further determine the tumour size, imaging tests or evaluation of the tissue samples can be done. If the cancerous area is less than 3 mm in depth, it can be categorized as stage IA1 cancer. However, if the cancerous area is between 3 to less than 5 mm of area, it can be termed as a stage IA2. 
  • Stage IB – In this stage, the tumour is confined to the cervix area but is larger in size showing no distant spread. The cancer is said to be in stage IB1 if the size of the tumour is more than 5mm in depth and less than 2 cms wide. If the tumour size is between 2 to 4 cm of depth, then the patient is said to have stage IB2 cervical cancer. Stage IB3 is when the size of the tumour is more than 4 cms in width. 

 

  • Stage II of cervical cancer:

When the cancer cells spread beyond the uterus to the nearby areas like the tissues near the cervix or vagina but are still inside the pelvic area. The best doctor for cervical cancer shares that in this stage, cancer has still not spread to the other parts of the body. This stage can be further subdivided into smaller groups to describe the spread of cancer in more detail. 

  • Stage IIA – When the tumour is limited to the upper two-thirds of the vagina but has not spread to the tissues next to the cervix, called the parametrial area. Stage IIA1 indicates that the size of the tumour is less than 4 cms wide. When the tumour size becomes more than 4 cm, the patient can be said to be in stage IIA2 of cervical cancer.  
  • Stage IIB – This is when cancer has spread to the parametrial area but does not reach the pelvic wall. 

 

  • Stage III of cervical cancer:

According to the best oncologists in Mumbai, the cancer tumour at this stage has now spread to the lower third of the vagina and/or spread to the pelvic wall. The tumour in the third stage causes swelling in the kidneys (hydronephrosis) or stops a kidney from functioning and cancer may spread to the regional lymph nodes. It can be divided into three sub-categories.  

  • Stage IIIA – In this stage, the tumour has spread to the third part of the vagina but not into the pelvic wall. 
  • Stage IIIB – The patient is said to be in this stage if the tumour has spread to the pelvic wall and/or affects the kidney.
  • Stage IIIC – This is when the tumour has spread to the lymph nodes. Imaging tests and pathology are performed before this stage. The use of a lowercase “r” in the imaging tests ensures that confirms the lymph node involvement. The use of lowercase “p” indicates that the results were used to determine the stage of cancer. This can be further sub-categorized into two stages. Stage IIIC1 means the tumour has spread to lymph nodes in the pelvis. Stage IIIC2 indicates the tumour has spread to para-aortic lymph nodes. These involve the lymph nodes in the abdomen near the base of the spine and aorta (the major artery that runs from the heart to the abdomen). 

 

  • Stage IV of cervical cancer:

This is the last stage of cervical cancer. The best cancer specialist in Mumbai shares that the survival rate of the patients, in this case, is very thin. The further sub-category of stage IVA indicates that cancer has spread to the bladder or rectum but not to the other parts of the body. Stage IVB indicates that cancer has not spread to the other vital parts of the body like the heart.