Stages of Gastric Cancer
Stage 0
Stage 0 is the first stage of gastric cancer, in which abnormal cells are found in a person's body, more specifically in the lining of the stomach. These are cells that are not necessarily cancerous, but may become cancerous in the future and have a risk of spreading to other parts of the body.
Stage 1
In this stage, the cancer has already formed. If the cancer cells have merely spread along the stomach lining, it's called stage 1A. If the cells have spread through the stomach lining and into (up to six of) the lymph nodes and a tumor is present, it's called stage 1B.
Stage 2
In stage 2, the cancer cells are present in anywhere between seven and 15 lymph nodes near the original tumor. A person is also in stage 2 when the cancer cells have spread through both the middle and outer layer of the stomach lining.
Stage 3
In stage 3A, there are cancer cells all the way through the middle layer of the stomach in addition to being present in seven to 15 lymph nodes. Stage 3B of gastric cancer means that abnormal cells are present in organs in the vicinity of the stomach, but not necessarily in any lymph nodes.
Stage 4
By this final stage, cancer cells have spread to organs in the area of the stomach as well as in the lymph nodes. The cancer may spread to other parts of the body in this stage as well.
