After the cervical cancer was diagnosed the women have to take some tests in order to determine if the cancer has spread and affected also other parts of the body.



The cancer spreads into the organism in 3 ways:

-through tissue
-through the lymph system
-through the blood.

The process of finding out if the cancer has spread and affected other parts of the body is staging. The information gathered from the medical investigation made in staging determine the stage of the cancer. The stage of the cervical cancer is very important because it represents the factor that determines the treatment to be applied in the healing process.

The cervical cancer has 4 stages and is classified in the first stages according to the dimension of the tumor and in the terminal stages according to the amount of tissues and organs that the cancer had affected.



STAGE 0:



In this stage, the abnormal cells are found in the innermost lining of the cervix. These abnormal cells may become cancer and spread into nearby normal tissue.



STAGE 1:



In stage 1 the cancer has formed, is located only in the cervix and is divided based on the amount of cancer in two stages Stage IA and stage IB.

Stage IA is divided in stage IA1 (the cancer is not more than 3 mm deep and not more than 7 mm wide and stage IA2 (the cancer is more than 3 but not more than 5 mm deep, and not more than 7 mm wide.)

Stage IB can only be seen with the microscope, is more than 5 mm deep or more than 7 mm wide, and divided into stages IB1 (the cancer can be seen without a microscope and is not larger than 4 cm) and IB2 (the cancer can be seen without a microscope and is larger than 4 cm).

Stage II:



In stage II, the cancer has spread beyond the cervix, but not to the pelvic wall or to the lower third of the vagina and is also divided in stage IIA (the cancer has spread beyond the cervix to the upper two thirds of the vagina but not to tissues around the uterus) and stage IIB (the cancer has spread beyond the cervix to the upper two thirds of the vagina and to the tissues around the uterus).

Stage III:



In stage III , the cancer has spread to the lower third of the vagina, may have spread to the pelvic wall, and/or has caused the kidney to stop working. Stage III is divided into stages IIIA (the cancer has spread to the lower third of the vagina but not to the pelvic wall) and stage IIIB ( the cancer has spread to the pelvic wall and/or the tumor has become large enough to block the ureters (the tubes that connect the kidneys to the bladder), based on how far the cancer has spread.

Stage IV:

In stage IV, cancer has spread to the bladder, rectum, or other parts of the body and is divided in stages IVA (the cancer has spread to the bladder or rectal wall and may have spread to lymph nodes in the pelvis) and stages IVB (the cancer has spread beyond the pelvis and pelvic lymph nodes to other places in the body, such as the abdomen, liver, intestinal tract, or lungs), based on where the cancer is found.