Stages of Sarcoma

When your care team determines your diagnosis, they also assess what stage of  cancer you have. Staging describes:

• Size of the tumor
• Location of the cancer
• Whether the cancer has spread and, if so, to where

A cancer diagnosis and its staging help you and your doctor make decisions about your treatment plan. This information is also helpful in determining your prognosis (probable outcome based on the experience of others).

The stages of sarcoma are:

Stage IA: The tumor is 5 cm or smaller and either superficial or deep. It has not spread to the lymph nodes or to other parts of the body.

Stage IB: The tumor is larger than 5 cm and either superficial or deep. It has not spread to the lymph nodes or to other parts of the body.

Stage IIA: The tumor is 5 cm or smaller and either superficial or deep. It has not spread to the lymph nodes or to other parts of the body. The grade is higher than the grade for stage IA.

Stage IIB: The tumor is larger than 5 cm and either superficial or deep. It has not spread to the lymph nodes or to other parts of the body. The grade is higher than the grade for stage IB.

Stage III: This stage can be described by either of the following:

• The tumor is larger than 5 cm and either superficial or deep. It has not spread to the lymph nodes or to other parts of the body. The grade is higher than the grade for stage IIB.
• The tumor is any size, either superficial or deep, or any grade. However, it has spread to the regional lymph nodes but not to other parts of the body.

Stage IV: The tumor is any size, either superficial or deep, any grade, and may or may not have spread to the regional lymph nodes. However, it has spread to other parts of the body).

Recurrent: Recurrent sarcoma is sarcoma that has come back after treatment.