There are four common stages of bowel cancer numbered from 1 to 4. The TNM staging system is as follows.
TNM system
- T (tumour) - how far the tumour has grown through the bowel wall
- N (nodes) - whether the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes
- M (metastases) - whether the cancer has spread (metastasised) to other parts of the body
- T1 - the tumour is in the inner layer of the bowel
- T2 – the tumour has grown into the muscle layer of the bowel wall
- T3 – the tumour has grown into the outer lining of the bowel wall
- T4 – the tumour has grown through the outer lining of the bowel wall
- N0 – no lymph nodes contain cancer cells
- N1 – cancer cells in up to three nearby lymph nodes
- N2 – cancer cells in four or more nearby lymph nodes
- M0 – the cancer hasn’t spread to other parts of the body
- M1 – the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, like the liver or lungs
Only 15% of patients are diagnosed at stage 1, and just 7% of patients with stage 4 bowel cancer will live past 5 years. Early diagnosis gives patients a much better chance of surviving bowel cancer, so much more needs to be done to improve detection rates at stage 1.
My mother was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer in 2012, but the cancer soon spread to her left lung making her stage 4. Mum passed away in August 2016, after the cancer also spread to her brain. I have been fundraising since her successful bowel operation in 2012, and everything I sell on my bowelcancerfundraising.co.uk is raising funds for Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK, the UK's leading bowel cancer charity.
