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Salivary Glands Cancer Stages

What Are the Stages of Salivary Glands Cancer?

Once cancer of the salivary glands is found, more tests will be done to find out if cancer cells have spread to other parts of the body. This is called staging. A doctor needs to know the stage of the disease to plan treatment. Salivary glands cancers are also classified by "grade," which tells how fast the cancer cells grow, based on how the cells look under a microscope. Low-grade cancers grow more slowly than high-grade cancers.

The following stages are used for cancer of the salivary gland:

Stage 1 salivary glands cancer

The cancer is 2 centimeters or less in diameter and has not spread outside the salivary glands.

Stage 2 salivary glands cancer

The cancer is larger than 2 centimeters but not larger than 4 centimeters in diameter and has not spread outside the salivary glands.

Stage 3 salivary glands cancer

Any of the following may be true: 

  • The cancer is larger than 4 centimeters in diameter and has spread into the skin, soft tissue, bone, or nerve around the gland. The cancer may have spread to a single lymph node.
  • The cancer is less than 4 centimeters in size, and has spread to a single lymph node. 
Stage 4 salivary glands cancer

Stage IVA
Any of the following may be true: 

  • The cancer has spread into the skin, soft tissue, bone, or nerve around the salivary gland, may be as large as 6 centimeters, and may have spread to 1 or more lymph nodes, but has not spread to other parts of the body.
  • The cancer is any size and has spread to nearby tissue and has spread to a single lymph node on the same side of the neck as the cancer, to lymph nodes on either side of the neck, or to any lymph node. 

Stage IVB
Any of the following may be true: 

  • The cancer has spread into the bones of the skull and/or surrounded the carotid artery, the main (right and left) artery of the neck which carries blood to the head and brain, and may have spread to 1 or more lymph nodes.
  • The cancer is greater than 6 centimeters and may have spread to nearby tissues, and has spread to at least 1 lymph node. 

Stage IVC
The cancer may be of any size and may have spread to nearby tissues and lymph nodes, and has spread to other parts of the body. 

Recurrent salivary glands cancer

Recurrent disease means that the cancer has come back (recurred) after it has been treated. It may come back in the salivary glands or in another part of the body.

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