Your doctor needs to know the extent (stage) of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma to plan the best treatment. Staging is a careful attempt to find out what parts of the body are affected by the disease.
Lymphoma usually starts in a lymph node. It can spread to nearly any other part of the body. For example, it can spread to the liver, lungs, bone and bone marrow.
Staging non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma may involve one or more of the following tests:
The stage is based on where lymphoma cells are found in the lymph nodes or in other organs or tissues. The stage also depends on how many areas are affected. The stages of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma are as follows:
In addition to these stage numbers, your doctor may also describe the stage as A or B: