Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat It IsTests and ProceduresTreatmentPrognosisQuestions to Ask Your Healthcare Provider
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What It Is
Tests and Procedures
Treatment
Prognosis
Questions to Ask Your Healthcare Provider
There are effective treatments for many stage 3 cancers. Some stage 3 cancers can be successfully treated, but they are more likely to return after going away.
This article reviews how stage 3 cancer is diagnosed. It also explains what this means for a person’s treatment and prognosis.
Verywell / Theresa Chiechi
What Is Stage 3 Cancer?
Staging affects treatment options, survival rates, and the potential forremission. Remission is a period with no signs or symptoms of cancer; however, cancer may still be present in the body.
Other Cancer Staging SystemsNot all cancers use the TNM system for staging:Gynecologiccancersuse the FIGO system from the International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians, which is fairly similar to the TNM system.Cancers of the brainand central nervous system don’t have a formal staging system. They rarely spread beyond those organs.Small-cell lung cancershas two stages being either “limited” or “extensive” based on how far the cancer cells have spread.Blood cancersdon’t form tumors so staging depends on blood counts and other physical assessments such as enlarged lymph nodes, spleen, or liver. There are several staging systems including Rai, Lugano, and Binet staging systems.
Other Cancer Staging Systems
Not all cancers use the TNM system for staging:Gynecologiccancersuse the FIGO system from the International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians, which is fairly similar to the TNM system.Cancers of the brainand central nervous system don’t have a formal staging system. They rarely spread beyond those organs.Small-cell lung cancershas two stages being either “limited” or “extensive” based on how far the cancer cells have spread.Blood cancersdon’t form tumors so staging depends on blood counts and other physical assessments such as enlarged lymph nodes, spleen, or liver. There are several staging systems including Rai, Lugano, and Binet staging systems.
Not all cancers use the TNM system for staging:
TNM System for Breast Cancer
Stage 3 Diagnostic Criteria
We tend to talk about all stage 3 cancers as if they are the same. In reality, these diagnoses differ widely based on cancer type. A stage 3 cancer often has one or more of three features:
Once diagnosed, the cancer stage never changes. Even if healthcare providers re-stage the cancer diagnosis, or it recurs, they keep the first staging diagnosis.Your healthcare provider will add the new staging diagnosis to the initial stage. The new stage is denoted with letters, like c for clinical or r for recurring.
Once diagnosed, the cancer stage never changes. Even if healthcare providers re-stage the cancer diagnosis, or it recurs, they keep the first staging diagnosis.
Your healthcare provider will add the new staging diagnosis to the initial stage. The new stage is denoted with letters, like c for clinical or r for recurring.
Some stage 3 cancers are subdivided to classify them more precisely. These sub-stages differ based on which organ is involved. For example, stage 3 breast cancer has three subcategories:
3A:
3B:
3C:
Healthcare providers also say stage 3C breast cancers are operable or inoperable. Inoperable doesn’t mean they aren’t treatable. It just means that surgery wouldn’t be able to remove the entire tumor. In some cases, a treatment such as chemotherapy can shrink a tumor so much that it can be removed surgically even if it was initially considered inoperable.
How Is Cancer Diagnosed?
Other Factors
There are a few other things that help healthcare providers determine a cancer’s stage:
Cancer Staging Tests and Procedures
Imaging Tests
Imaging tests like X-ray,computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound, andpositron emission tomography(PET)scans let healthcare providers see inside the body without cutting it open. These images give them a better idea of the size and makeup of a tumor. They can also provide information about other affected organs and blood flow.
Endoscopy
Endoscopyinvolves a surgeon inserting a small tube or wire into the body to look at the organs with a small camera. It includes tests like:
The surgeon uses the scope to take pictures or tissue samples of unusual areas.
Biopsy
During a biopsy, a healthcare provider takes a tissue sample of the tumor, then looks at it under a microscope. These tissue samples can be from anywhere on the body, including the skin, bone marrow, or breast. Some biopsies use a vacuum device to draw out tissue samples through a needle. This process is calledfine-needle aspiration (FNA).
Lab Tests
How Stage 3 Cancer Is Treated
Treatment for stage 3 cancers varies according to which organ is affected. The more advanced the stage is, the more challenging it is to treat.
Surgery is often the first line of defense against a tumor. Some surgeries involve an open incision. Others use a tiny incision and a camera on a flexible tube. The goal is to remove the cancerous tissue.
In some cases, stage 3C cancers will need other treatments to shrink the size of the tumor. Here’s how some of those treatments work:
Treatments for Common Cancers
Which treatments theoncologist(cancer specialist) uses will depend on thetype of cancer, how far it has spread, and many other factors. Here are three treatment approaches as examples:
Treatment plans for stage 3 cancer can be complex. They often involve many healthcare providers and facilities. One thing that can help patients is apalliativecare team. These health and social work teams work to relieve symptoms, treat side effects, and improve patients’ stress levels. No matter what stage of cancer,palliative carecan help.
What Is the Prognosis For Stage 3 Cancer?
Heidi Sain / Getty Images
The prognosis or outlook for stage 3 cancer depends on many factors. Some examples are:
Another factor is known asperformance status. It’s a way of scoring your ability to perform everyday tasks.
Healthcare providers usesurvival ratesto estimate how likely it is that someone with a certain diagnosis will still be alive in five years. The cancer-specific survival rate would be the portion of people with a particular diagnosis who had not died from that cancer. The relative survival rate estimates how many of those people had not died from anything (cancer or otherwise) during that time.
Survival Rates and Cancer
Survival is typically measured in five-year rates (the number of people in 100 who are expected to live for at least five years). You might see one-year, two-year, and 10-year survival rates, too.
You can find cancer survival rates in the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance,Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program’s database. It has been reporting cancer statistics from 19 states since 1973.
The SEER database does not use the TNM staging system. Cancer registries like SEER typically use a three-stage approach:
These stages make it easier for cancer registries to categorize patients. But there are limitations to the SEER definitions. For example, many stage 2 and 3 cancers meet the SEER definition of “regional.” Stage 3C edges closer to “distant.”Keep this in mind when you think about the five-year survival rates below. They only offer a general estimate of life expectancy.
These stages make it easier for cancer registries to categorize patients. But there are limitations to the SEER definitions. For example, many stage 2 and 3 cancers meet the SEER definition of “regional.” Stage 3C edges closer to “distant.”
Keep this in mind when you think about the five-year survival rates below. They only offer a general estimate of life expectancy.
The figures below are from the NCI’s SEER database. It tracks how many cases of cancer are diagnosed and what the outcomes are. The numbers below are the five-year survival rates for the top 10 cancers at a “regional” stage. This data was collected from 2013 to 2019.
*Note that healthcare providers stage lymphoma and leukemia differently. The non-Hodgkin lymphoma number is the stage 3 survival. The leukemia number is the overall five-year relative survival rate for any stage.
It’s important that you understand your diagnosis and treatment, and your oncology team can help with questions you have about your care and its outcomes. Some things you may want to know include:
Don’t hesitate to ask about emerging treatments, such as targeted therapies, or clinical trials in which new treatments are tested.
Your healthcare team can also help you to connect with support groups and other resources. Online and in-person support groups are available for nearly any cancer. You can share experiences and ask questions with people who have lived with breast, lung, or other types of cancer.
What Is Adjuvant Therapy?
Summary
Public health organizations keep track of new cancer cases and deaths from cancer. They estimate the chances that someone with a certain type and stage of cancer will be alive in one, two, five, or 10 years' time. The outlook for a person with stage 3 cancer depends on more than this estimate, though. Overall health, age, the type of cancer, its stage, and treatments all shape the prognosis.
A Word From Verywell
A cancer diagnosis is a life-changing event. This is especially true if you’re diagnosed with later-stage cancer. But stage 3 cancer isn’t a death sentence. Survival rates are improving, and researchers are continually discovering and testing new targeted drugs and immunotherapies.
13 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.National Cancer Institute.Remission.Brierley JD, Gospodarowicz MK, Wittekind C, eds.TNM classification of malignant tumours, 8th edition. Wiley-Blackwell; 2016.Kehoe S, Bhatla N. (Eds).FIGO cancer report 2021.Int J Gynecol Obstet. 2021;155(S1). doi:10.1002/ijgo.13882American Cancer Society.Cancer staging.American Cancer Society.Small cell lung cancer stages.Lymphoma Research Foundation.Treatment options: Staging and prognosis.American Cancer Society.How is chronic lymphocytic leukemia staged?American Cancer Society.Stages of breast cancer.American Cancer Society.Prostate cancer stages.National Cancer Institute.Understanding cancer prognosis.West H, Jin JO.Performance status in patients with cancer.JAMA Oncol.2015;1(7):998. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2015.3113National Cancer Institute.Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program.National Cancer Institute.Cancer stat facts.
13 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.National Cancer Institute.Remission.Brierley JD, Gospodarowicz MK, Wittekind C, eds.TNM classification of malignant tumours, 8th edition. Wiley-Blackwell; 2016.Kehoe S, Bhatla N. (Eds).FIGO cancer report 2021.Int J Gynecol Obstet. 2021;155(S1). doi:10.1002/ijgo.13882American Cancer Society.Cancer staging.American Cancer Society.Small cell lung cancer stages.Lymphoma Research Foundation.Treatment options: Staging and prognosis.American Cancer Society.How is chronic lymphocytic leukemia staged?American Cancer Society.Stages of breast cancer.American Cancer Society.Prostate cancer stages.National Cancer Institute.Understanding cancer prognosis.West H, Jin JO.Performance status in patients with cancer.JAMA Oncol.2015;1(7):998. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2015.3113National Cancer Institute.Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program.National Cancer Institute.Cancer stat facts.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
National Cancer Institute.Remission.Brierley JD, Gospodarowicz MK, Wittekind C, eds.TNM classification of malignant tumours, 8th edition. Wiley-Blackwell; 2016.Kehoe S, Bhatla N. (Eds).FIGO cancer report 2021.Int J Gynecol Obstet. 2021;155(S1). doi:10.1002/ijgo.13882American Cancer Society.Cancer staging.American Cancer Society.Small cell lung cancer stages.Lymphoma Research Foundation.Treatment options: Staging and prognosis.American Cancer Society.How is chronic lymphocytic leukemia staged?American Cancer Society.Stages of breast cancer.American Cancer Society.Prostate cancer stages.National Cancer Institute.Understanding cancer prognosis.West H, Jin JO.Performance status in patients with cancer.JAMA Oncol.2015;1(7):998. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2015.3113National Cancer Institute.Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program.National Cancer Institute.Cancer stat facts.
National Cancer Institute.Remission.
Brierley JD, Gospodarowicz MK, Wittekind C, eds.TNM classification of malignant tumours, 8th edition. Wiley-Blackwell; 2016.
Kehoe S, Bhatla N. (Eds).FIGO cancer report 2021.Int J Gynecol Obstet. 2021;155(S1). doi:10.1002/ijgo.13882
American Cancer Society.Cancer staging.
American Cancer Society.Small cell lung cancer stages.
Lymphoma Research Foundation.Treatment options: Staging and prognosis.
American Cancer Society.How is chronic lymphocytic leukemia staged?
American Cancer Society.Stages of breast cancer.
American Cancer Society.Prostate cancer stages.
National Cancer Institute.Understanding cancer prognosis.
West H, Jin JO.Performance status in patients with cancer.JAMA Oncol.2015;1(7):998. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2015.3113
National Cancer Institute.Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program.
National Cancer Institute.Cancer stat facts.
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