The aim of staging is to find out how much the lymphoma has grown locally, and whether it has spread to other lymph nodes or to other parts of the body. For determining stage of lymphoma CT scan, blood tests, a bone marrow biopsy or other tests are performed. Nowadays PET/CT scans are considered superior to CT scans and preferred. All staging investigations are repeated at end of treatment for documenting complete clearance of lymphoma. PET scan can be done in interim after 2-3 cycles of chemotherapy for assessing initial response to chemotherapy.
Ann Arbor staging of Lymphoma
Stage 1 : The lymphoma is confined to one group of lymph nodes only.
Stage 2 : The lymphoma affects two or more groups of lymph nodes. However, they are all on the same side of the diaphragm. (The diaphragm is the large muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen and helps us to breathe. So, for stage 2, all the affected nodes will either be above or below the diaphragm.)
Stage 3 : The lymphoma affects nodes on both sides of the diaphragm.
Stage 4 : The lymphoma affects parts of the body outside of the lymphatic system.
Each stage is also divided into A or B. A means that you do not have symptoms of night sweats fevers or weight loss. B means that you do have one or more of these symptoms.