Staging

Staging is a way of describing a cancer, such as where it is located, if or where it has spread, and if it is affecting the functions of other organs in the body. Doctors use diagnostic tests to determine the cancer's stage, so staging may not be complete until all of the tests are finished. Knowing the stage helps the doctor to decide what kind of treatment is best and can help predict a patient's prognosis (chance of recovery). There are different stage descriptions for different types of cancer.

The terms doctors use to describe the stage of osteosarcoma and plan treatment are listed below:

Localized: The tumor is limited to the bone where it began and the tissue around it, and the tumor has not spread to other parts of the body.

Metastatic: The tumor has spread from the bone where it began to other parts of the body, most frequently the lungs or other bones.

Recurrent: Recurrent osteosarcoma is cancer that comes back either during or after treatment. It can come back in the same place where it started or in another part of the body. The lungs and other bones are the most frequent sites of recurrent disease.

Source: National Cancer Institute