Dictionary of Cancer Terms
View in Spanish: Sistema de estadificación del AJCC
AJCC staging system ( STAY-jing SIS-tem)
A system developed by the American Joint Committee on Cancer for describing the extent of cancer in a patient’s body. The descriptions include TNM: T describes the size of the tumor and if it has invaded nearby tissue, N describes any lymph nodes that are involved, and M describes metastasis (spread of cancer from one body part to another).
Source: National Cancer Institute Dictionary of Cancer Terms, available at www.cancer.gov/dictionary.