what do the stages mean

[SimplyStar]

the 4 stages of OVCA?  My daughter has stage 3  just read a post about the difference and am confused.  1 is slow growing??  3  is fast?  She had a total with a bowel resection, lymph glands removed and some sites {peeled}  I thought the stages meant how invasive the cancer was??  1 more chemo to do, CS was clean, CA125 down to normal range.  So her chances are good?  What does age have to do with recurrances?  We were wondering how long this had been growing, surgeon said he couldn't tell??  she started feeling bad 4 months before diagnosed. Do you think a CA125 should be done as part of a yearly physical?? If  the blood work had been done  with her first visit ,she had 5 visits  in the 4 months, would her cancer been caught sooner? Her doctor kept telling her not to worry  it was not cancer. She went to  GYN, Everything moved very fast  after a pelvic exam, CS, CA125. She had surgery 6 days later. As a retired RN I am so thankful that all this info is available to women. Thank You so much.

[Pily]

Sorry, my grammar is no good.Doctor told me I have ovarian cancer, I will have a surgery soon. I want to know, what does 1125 ca 125 mean? I have a mass in my left ovarian. What type of cancer I have. Do you know in which stage am I?. Please help me. I really appreciated every answer. I have 43 years old. Thank you very much.

[mamc]

my mom is 82 yrs old recently diagnosed with "stage 4 advanced ovarian cancer' she is taking chemo every 3 wks she will have 6 treatments can anyone tell me what to expect thank you

[A Rebel Spirit]

It sounds like you are confused by the stages and grades. The stages are as described above and refer to how far the cancer has spread. The grades are 1, 2, 3 with 1 being slow growing and 3 being the fastest growing.For instance, I was diagnosed as Stage IIc, Grade 3. My cancer had spread to the uterus, fallopian tube, and free fluid (Stage IIc). It was growing fast (Grade 3).

[rmarie]

The stages refer to the spread of the disease, Stage one is disease in one or both ovaries, 2 is confined to the pelvis, stage 3 is confined to the abdomen and 4 is outside the abdomen, lung or liver.  With in the stages are letters A to C that further denote the disease.  
There are some good books on Ovarian cancer, you might want to see if they are in your local library.

[Annekathryn Goodman, M.D.]

Hi There
Thank you for your good question. "Stage" is a short hand for describing where the cancer was found and far did it spread.

Stage one means confined to the ovary
Stage 2 means the ovary plus other pelvic structures (uterus, sigmoid colon, lining of the pelvic cavity)
have cancer involvement.
Stage 3 means that there is spread to the lymph nodes of to the lining of the cavity
Stage 4 means the Cancer has spread to the lungs or liver.

It must be so hard for you worrying about your daughter!
best wishes