24/7 Patient Assistance: 760-405-8205



What is tumor grading?

Tumor grading is a process used by doctors in order to classify the cancerous cells based on how these appear under the microscope. This way doctors can predict more accurately the survival period for each patient diagnosed with mesothelioma. Nuclear grading is the most common approach for tumor grading. The cells are grouped by the size and shape of their nuclei but other factors like nucleolus size and the rate of cell division are also important in this process. Therefore, severe nuclear atypia has been proved to reduce the survival chances while a low mitotic count (only a few cells are dividing and spreading) indicated the highest survival chances. 

Based on this information, researchers have developed a system, which divides patients into 3 prognostic groups in order to estimate the median overall survival:

  • Grade 1: 28 months left
  • Grade 2: 14 months left
  • Grade 3: 5 months left
 

Comments from doctors

  • Tumor grading is a very helpful process when you need to estimate the overall survival.

  • Predicting the recurrence of the cancer for patients treated with surgical interventions is also possible thanks to this process.

We wanted a resource where people who are looking for better help can find it, because one of the issues that I have found is that the diagnosis takes a little bit, some people don’t know if they are diagnosed or not. This is something that it is important enough, that is why I wanted to put the information together.