100
T1N0M0 cancers (either T1a or T1b) with low cancer
grades (grade 1 or grade 2). Stage IC cancers (equivalent
to stage IB in seventh edition) are T1N0M0 cancers of
cancer grade 3 or T2N0M0 cancers of low cancer grades
(grade = 1 or 2).
(A2) Stage II cancers are in two prognostic staging groups:
stage IIA and stage IIB groups. Stage IIA cancers are
T2N0M0 and grade 3. Stage IIB cancers are T3N0M0 or
T1N1M0. Starting from stage IIB, cancer grade is not a
factor for cancer staging. It is worth noting that in the
eighth edition, nearly majority of the cancers in prognos-
tic stage II group are N0 (without lymph node metasta-
sis). The only exception is cancer that is of T1 (T1N1M0)Fig. 7 (a) Poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Note also the presence of carcinoma cells in lymphatics. (b)
Poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Higher magnification showing carcinoma cells with mitotic figures, high
nuclear pleomorphism and only forming vague glandular architecture
Alfred K. Lam