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Staging is the method through which the mesothelioma doctor finds out the exact spread of the cancer in your organs. Normally for determining the stage at which currently the disease is, imaging methods like the X-ray, MRI or CT scans are resorted to. Since the treatments and diet depends largely on the stage at which your mesothelioma is presently set, the staging is vital for the treatment.

Unfortunately however, staging in respect of all forms of mesothelioma is yet to be discovered. As the pleural mesothelioma is the most frequent among various types of the disease, staging classification has been put in place in respect of this form of mesothelioma only.

The International Mesothelioma Interest Group under the aegis of the American Joint Committee on Cancer has been developing a staging pattern for the disease. The system is akin to other staging system of cancer following the accepted TNM pattern. Here T means tumor, N means lymph nodes and M means metastasis. Their spread to and affect on different organs determine the exact stage of mesothelioma you are now in.

All information relating to the tumor, the lymph nodes and the metastasis is clubbed together in a process that is named as the group staging. The staging is assigned the roman numerals I to IV and it helps to carry out effective mesothelioma treatments as the doctor is now able to administer the exact types and doses of drugs and decide whether a surgery is required.