rivers2cross

There are four common stages of bowel cancer numbered from 1 to 4. The TNM staging system is as follows.

TNM system

• T (tumour) – how far the tumour has grown through the bowel wall
• N (nodes) – whether the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes
• M (metastases) – whether the cancer has spread (metastasised) to other parts of the body

T stage

• T1 – the tumour is in the inner layer of the bowel
• T2 – the tumour has grown into the muscle layer of the bowel wall
• T3 – the tumour has grown into the outer lining of the bowel wall
• T4 – the tumour has grown through the outer lining of the bowel wall 

 N stage

• N0 – no lymph nodes contain cancer cells
• N1 – cancer cells in up to three nearby lymph nodes
• N2 – cancer cells in four or more nearby lymph nodes 

 M stage

• M0 – the cancer hasn’t spread to other parts of the body
• M1 – the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, like the liver or lungs

Only 15% of patients are diagnosed at stage 1, and just 7% of patients with stage 4 bowel cancer will live past 5 years. Early diagnosis gives patients a much better chance of surviving bowel cancer, so much more needs to be done to improve detection rates at stage 1.

My mother was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer in 2012, but the cancer soon spread to her left lung making her stage 4. Mum died in August 2016, after the cancer also spread to her brain. I have been fundraising since her successful bowel operation in 2012, and I am selling books, t-shirts, wristbands, art, and teddy bears on my rivers2cross website to raise funds for Bowel Cancer UK, the UK’s leading bowel cancer charity.