r/endometrialcancer • u/CABB2020 • Apr 12 '25

IMPORTANT: Please know the difference between grade and stage when helping others.

I've noticed in many posts that people are referencing their cancer "stage" after biopsy which is not accurate. On a biopsy pathology report, the GRADE is given which indicates how differentiated the tissue is and does not tell anything about the cancer's STAGE.

The STAGE is only discovered 100% after surgery. That pathology report will give an updated GRADE of the cancer as well since this can shift either up or down depending on the overall uterine tissue and then the STAGE is determined by how far it has spread (either contained in the uterus, spread to other pelvic organs, spread to the lymph nodes, spread to distant organs).

Also, STAGE can also possibly be determined before surgery by a CT scan. But, it's not 100% accurate as cancer may be found during surgery that didn't show up on the ct. However, if it's spread to distant organs like the lungs, etc. that could be evident on a CT scan.

I'm posting this because a lot of commenters are posting as if their GRADE 2 biopsy diagnosis is STAGE 2 diagnosis which are two different things and obviously, STAGE 2 spread is worse than STAGE 1 regardless of the grade.

SO, grade = the aggressiveness of the cancer and stage = how far it has spread.

Please keep this in mind to not unnecessarily scare newly diagnosed folks by referencing these interchangeably or incorrectly. thanks

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10

u/Aware-Locksmith-7313 Apr 12 '25

So totally true … it’s amazing how much misinformation gets spread around, even by patients themselves. But grade & stage confusion seems to be the most prevalent goof of all.

9

u/theycallme_shorty Apr 12 '25

Folks can also check out the pinned post about Figo staging which is very helpful.

3

u/CABB2020 Apr 13 '25

This is a great resource and, unfortunately, one that many seem not to take advantage of given the numerous comments saying their stage after an initial biopsy.

5

u/sleepy_little_panda Apr 14 '25

I’ve pinned this post to the top of the subreddit.

1

u/Capable_Anywhere9949 Apr 28 '25 edited Apr 28 '25

If it’s helpful to others, I go straight off the patient plan in my portal to read my full assessment. There’s the actual description of grade and stage. Indeed it can become very confusing without the actual stage/grade. For example, I had Stage 3b G3 in 2016 and now Stage 4b G2…less aggressive grade 2, but stage 4 due to the distance of spread. Thanks for pinning the FIGO, very useful!

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '25

Can anyone speak to their experience with grade 3 Uterine cancer? I’m not sure if I’m even using that terminology correctly in the sentence. For context, I’m asking because my mother has been recently diagnosed.

1

u/karasaray Jul 02 '25

Thank you for clarifying this important information. I struggled a bit too at first, and still am unfamiliar with a few terms. I really need to get back to Google and more reading in general.