Stages, types and grades of bowel cancer

The grade of a bowel (colorectal) cancer tells you how it might behave. Bowel cancer is also divided into different types depending on the type of cell that your cancer started in and where it began.

Tumour, node and metastasis (TNM) staging is one of the systems used to stage bowel (colon and rectal) cancer.

Stage 1 bowel cancer has grown through the inner lining of the bowel, or into the muscle wall. It has not spread to lymph nodes or distant body parts.

Stage 2 bowel cancer has spread into the outer wall of the bowel or into tissue or organs next to the bowel. It has not spread to the lymph nodes or distant parts of the body. There are a number of treatment options.

Stage 3 bowel cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes, but hasn't spread to distant body parts.

Stage 4 bowel cancer has spread to distant body parts, such as the liver or lungs. It's also called metastatic or advanced bowel cancer.

The most common system to stage bowel cancer is TNM staging. But you might hear your doctor talking about your bowel cancer as Dukes’ A,B,C or D.