Staging for Mast Cell Tumours

Clinical staging is a term used in oncology, which describes the process of determining the extent of disease. It usually follows the WHO guide of TNM. T = tumour. The size, number of masses, appearance, site, and speed of growth is noted. N = regional lymph node status. The lymph node draining the site of the MCT is determined and that lymph node is sampled to determine if there is any spread of disease to it or not. M = metastasis. This is to see if there are any other sites of spread outside of the regional lymph node. In MCT, this usually is the spleen and liver. Tests to work out the clinical stage for MCT are usually a thorough physical examination, blood tests, fine needle aspirate samples of the regional lymph node, sentinel lymph node mapping, and abdominal ultrasound. In some rare cases, advanced imaging like MRI or CT may be needed.