Can anyone help pls , my mum was diagnosed with stage 1 non small cell lung cancer then after op it was stage 2 , had oncology appointment last week and received a letter today that says PT2a(m) T4N0M0 does that mean stage 4 ? Thanks in advance
I am sorry to learn about your mum and can understand this is a stressful time.
You might have already looked this up and seen that the TNM system is a way of staging (assessing the size and extent of cancer). There is more information about it on our website at this link.
The T stands for tumour size, the N for cancer in the lymph nodes nearby and M stands for a medical word, metastases, which means cancer that has spread. A stage 4 non small cell lung cancer would have to have a 1 after the M and be classified as a M1, so as the letter says M0 I don't think this can be a stage 4 cancer.
I don't know what the lower case letter m in brackets means after the pT2a, but the p stands for pathological that is as assessed by the pathologist in the laboratory after the cancer has been removed. The T2a means the tumour is more than 3cms but less than 4 cms in dimension.
I'm afraid this is an much as I can tell you. To get some clarification, try and and contact the specialist lung cancer nurse at the hospital. You usually have to leave them a message and they get back to you.
Give us a call if you want to talk anything over. Our number is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and we are here from 9-5 weekdays.
