Go back to Kidney Cancer Info

Kidney Cancer Stages

 

There are actually several kidney cancer staging systems available and I will try to explain the so called AJCC (TNM) system. AJCC stands for American Joint Committee on Cancer. TNM are three different pieces of information that combined with each other indicate the stage of the kidney cancer – you may also want to refer to the website of the American Cancer Society to get more detailed information on this: 

 

 

T (Tumor): Describes the size of the primary tumor and whether or not is has spread into nearby areas outside the kidney.

N (Nodes): Indicates if the cancer has spread into the lymph nodes nearby the kidney

M (Metastasis): An indicator that shows if the cancer has spread already to other organs of the body, such as lungs, bones, liver for example)

 

Each of the categories above can be detailed further to indicate the severity. For this purpose the number 0-4 are being added. Also, the letter X means that this particular piece of information is not available.
Here’s an overview of the categories and their definitions for kidney cancer:

 

T-Categories:

TX: The primary tumor cannot be assessed

T0: No evidence of a primary tumor

T1a: The primary tumor is 4 cm (1.5 inches) or smaller and only confined to the kidney

T1b: The tumor is larger than 4 cm, but smaller than 7 cm (2.75 inches) and confined to the kidney

T2: The tumor is larger than 7 cm but still confined to the kidney only

T3a: The primary tumor has already spread into the adrenal gland or the surrounding tissue of the kidney but not beyond the fibrous layer that is around the organ

T3b: The tumor has spread into the renal vein leading out of the kidney or into the vein that leads into the heart, called vena cava

T3c: The tumor has spread further into the vena cava and has reached the part that lies within the chest

T4: The tumor has spread to and beyond the fibrous layer that surrounds the kidney. It’s called Gerota’s fascia


N-Categories:

NX: information is not available, because nearby lymph nodes cannot be assessed

N0: No spread to any of the nearby lymph nodes

N1: Tumor has spread to one nearby lymph node

N2: Tumor has spread and affected more than one nearby lymph node

 

M-Categories:

MX: information is not available

M0: No evidence of spread to distant lymph nodes or other organs

M1: Evidence of distant metastasis, including spread to distant lymph nodes and/or other or organs
Illustration of Kidney Cancer Stages

 Illustration of Kidney Cancer Stages

Source: Oregon Health & Science University