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CancerQuest > Introduction to Patient Information > Introduction to Cancer by Type > Lymphoma: Introduction > Lymphoma: Pathology Report and Staging

Lymphoma: Pathology Report and Staging

The Pathology Report

If there is suspicion that a patient may have lymphoma, a sample of tissue (biopsy) may be taken for examination. After a biopsy is taken, the physician sends the specimen to a pathologist. The pathologist examines the specimen at both the macroscopic (visible with the naked eye) and microscopic (requiring magnification) levels and then sends a pathology report to the physician. The report contains information about the tissue's appearance, cellular make up, and state of disease or normalcy.

Learn more about the pathology report

Staging

Staging is important for identifying appropriate treatment options for a particular cancer and individual. It is important to note that although the stage of a cancer is important, the prognosis may be affected by other factors, such as age of the patient and other health related factors.

The Ann Arbor staging system is commonly used to categorize non-Hodgkin lymphoma following diagnosis. This system categorizes cancers into one of four stages. Methods to determine stage may include: biopsy, X-ray, MRI, PET and Bone Scans.⁽¹⁾

Stages of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The following is directly quoted or paraphrased from the sources at the end of the list (ACS and NCCN):

• Stage I: Cancerous cells are found in one lymph node or one area of a single organ outside of the lymphatic system.
• Stage II: Cancerous cells are detected in two lymph nodes or the lymph nodes of two regions of the body. Or, cancer may extend from a single group of lymph nodes to surrounding organs.
• Stage III: Lymph nodes on both sides of the diaphragm contain tumor cells.
• Stage IV: Lymphoma has spread out of the lymphatic system into organs that are not situated adjacent to a diseased node.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

Learn more about cancer staging

References for this page:

1. Learn About Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin's type. American Cancer Society. Accessed October 2010. [http://www.cancer.org/cancer/non-hodgkinlymphoma/index]
2. National Comprehensive Cancer Network Website: Non-Hogkin's Lymphoma Stages. Accessed 2 June 2010. [http://www.nccn.org/patients/patient_gls/_english/_non_hodgkins/4_stages.asp]