dems4me said:Can we get back on topic? Does anyone offhand have an easy way to explain the difference of levels and stages when it comes to cancer?
I'll give it a shot... I am 99% sure that levels and staging are the same method of telling how advanced it is for the type of cancer it is.... cancer is typically "staged" but is all dependent on the type of cancer it is. It's not where it's found, it's what kind it is (meaning if there is a tumor found in the brain, it is not necessarily brain cancer...it could be "breast cancer" that has spread, etc.).
There is a pretty good link (http://cancerguide.org/basic.html) to the staging process that might help on basics... The best sites for cancer info overall are through the Natl Cancer Institute (NCI) at www.cancer.gov (which has a pretty good terminology dictionary under "Dictionary of Cancer Terms" --- nothing here on "levels", but the breakdown on "staging" is good. The other is the MD Anderson site at http://www.mdanderson.org.
TMI?