Colon Cancer – Why Staging Occurs After Surgery

Transcript

So oftentimes on CT scans, we may see some mild enlargement of lymph nodes and patients always ask why we can’t really tell the stage up front. Oftentimes lymph nodes may be mildly enlarged, and we’re talking about seven millimeters to 10 millimeters, very small lymph nodes. And we’re talking about microscopic disease, which is very difficult to really ascertain with a CT scan. Even with a PET scan, which is looking for hypermetabolic lesions, they still may not be picked up.