Staging and grading in cancer pathology

Staging and grading are methods used by doctors to understand cancer's behavior. Staging shows how advanced the cancer is, including its size and whether it has spread to nearby or distant parts of the body. This helps determine the best treatment options. Grading looks at the cancer cells under a microscope to see how abnormal they are and how quickly they might grow. Well-differentiated cells look more like normal cells and tend to grow slower, while poorly differentiated cells are more abnormal and may grow faster. Together, staging and grading provide important information to guide treatment and predict outcomes.