What are the Stages of Pancreatic Cancer?
On the surface this would seem to be a fairly straight forward question, but as there exists the controversy of competing nomenclatures, it is not as simple as one might think. In fact, in the U. S., universal agreement on a standardized staging system does not exist. The fundamental problem is that the staging system for exocrine cancer of the pancreas as put forth by, for example, the American Joint Committee on Cancer (“AJCC”) is felt to be somewhat impractical by certain experts in the field. This classification rests on knowing the status of the TNM (that is Tumor, lymph Nodes and distal Metastasis). Under this classification (roughly) Stage I pancreatic cancer includes tumors which have not spread into certain proscribed sensitive areas and which have no involved regional nodes or distal metastasis. Stage II includes tumors which have spread into the duodenum, bile duct, or “peripancreatic” tissues AND which have no involved regional nodes or distal metastasis. Stage III cancer i
