The staging and classification of cancers

The primary theme of this chapter is to place in perspective the process and purpose of tumor staging for both the oncologist and the radiologist. The foundation used for this discussion will be the Manual for Staging of Cancer-1983, published by the American Joint Committee for Cancer. Because the specifics of staging and classification by body site will be the province of the chapters that follow, only a broad discussion of the principles and applications of this system is given