Small Cell Lung Cancer - divided into two stages
1. Limited Stage - means the cancer is on only one side of the chest (lung and/or lymph nodes), so it could be reasonably treated with a radiation field
2. Extended Stage - means the cancer is on both sides of the chest (spread to both lungs and/or lymph nodes on both sides of the body) or spread outside of the chest to other areas of the body, so it could not be reasonably treated with a radiation field
Non Small Cell Lung Cancer - divided into four main stages
1. Stage IA- the tumor is less than 3 cm, isn't in a main bronchus and hasn't spread to any lymph nodes
Stage IB - the tumor doesn't invade any organs, isn't too close to the trachea if it is in the main bronchus, doesn't cause obstruction of the lung and hasn't spread to any lymph nodes
2. Stage IIA- the tumor is less than 3 cm, isn't in a main bronchus and has spread to lymph nodes on the same side as the tumor
Stage IIB - the tumor doesn't invade any organs, isn't too close to the trachea if it is in the main bronchus, doesn't cause obstruction of the entire lung but has spread to hilar lymph nodes on the same side as the tumor OR the tumor hasn't spread to any lymph nodes but doesn't invade any vital organs
3. Stage IIIA - the tumor can have spread to different types of lymph nodes than Stage II (called mediastinal or subcarinal), but they are still on the same side as the tumor and it hasn't invaded any vital organs
Stage IIIB - the tumor has either invaded vital adjacent organs and/or spread to lymph nodes on the other side of the mediastinum as the tumor or specific lymph nodes called scalenes or supraclavicular. Also, the patient may have tumor spread to the fluid surrounding the lung
4. Stage IV- the tumor has spread (metastasized) to other organs in the body outside the lungs (like the bones, brain or liver)
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