How fatal is stage III colon cancer?
When discovered at stage 3A, colon cancer has reached the middle layers of the colon and spread to as many as three nearby lymph nodes. In stage 3B, cancer is present in as many as three nearby lymph nodes and: -has spread beyond the middle layers of the colon; or -has worked its way into nearby tissues; or -has extended through the colon wall into nearby organs (such as the bladder or ovaries) and/or stretched into the peritoneum – tissue that covers most of the organs in your abdomen. What differentiates stage 3C colon cancer from stages 3A and 3B is the number of lymph nodes involved. If you have a stage 3 tumor and cancer is found in four or more nearby lymph nodes, it’s considered stage 3C colon cancer.
