Staging

Staging is a process that tells a doctor if the cancer has spread and if it has, how far. Although brain tumors can spread throughout the brain and central nervous system, they very rarely spread to other parts of the body, so no formal staging system exists for brain tumors. Tumor grade, a description of how the cancer cells look under a microscope compared to normal cells, is a better way of categorizing how aggressive or severe a brain tumor is. Here are some things your doctor may consider to determine your prognosis, outlook, and treatment options.

Brain tumor staging
    • Your brain function.
    • The tumor type.
    • The tumor's size and location
    • The tumor grade.
    • Grade 1 (low-grade): Slow growing and usually associated with long-term survival. Almost identical to healthy cells.
    • • Grade 2: Low-grade but more aggressive than grade 1 tumors and have the potential to become higher grade tumors. Slightly different than healthy cells.
    • • Grade 3: Grow faster than grade 2 tumors and can turn into grade 4 tumors. Actively reproduce and look abnormal.
    • • Grade 4 (high-grade): The most aggressive. Actively growing and reproducing and do not look like normal cells. Areas of dead cells may be found in the tumor.
      • Whether the tumor has invaded other parts of the brain
      • Whether the cancer has spread outside of the brain or central nervous system.
      • Whether the tumor can be surgically removed

World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a grading system to indicate a tumor's malignancy or benignity based on its histological features under a microscope.

    • Most malignant
    • Rapid growth, aggressive
    • Widely infiltrative
    • Rapid recurrence
    • Necrosis prone