”Does staging matter in mesothelioma” with Dr. James Stevenson of the Cleveland Clinic

Discussion with Dr. James Stevenson of the Cleveland Clinic about staging of mesothelioma. Does staging matter and can it predict outcomes? Cancer staging conveys to the patient and physician information about the cancer's spread (for example, has the the cancer metastasized to the lymphatic system or other organs, etc.) This information is used to determine the course of treatment (i.e. whether the cancer is operable or not), as well as prognosis (predicting a patient’s survival time). For scientists, this classification is also helpful in a research setting as it allows comparison of patients (simplistically, it allows them to compare apples to apples.) Currently, staging for pleural mesothelioma (peritoneal mesothelioma does not have a standardized staging system) is based on the TNM system. T: the extent of spread of the main tumor. N: the spread of cancer to nearby (regional) lymph nodes. M: indicates whether the cancer has spread (metastasized) to other organs of the body.