Staging Question - 1289241

dorisc
Posts:1

If NSCLC has metastasized to the pleura only, why is that considered Stage 4 inoperable since it has not left the chest cavity?

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JimC
Posts: 2753

Hi dorisc,

Welcome to GRACE. If you're referring to the presence of a malignant pleural effusion, it would be stage IV because the cancer cells got there via the bloodstream. When a tumor directly invades the pleura, that's a different process, denoting only local spread.

JimC
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