What does this mean?!

What does this mean?

A friend was recently diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. The biopsy report said Pathologic Stage: T1C: NX: MX STAGE II.
What does this mean? I think I know what T1C means but what about NX, MX and STAGE II?

Thanks

4 days ago
Thank you Nochocolate!! I appreciate the information

N Stages -- N0 means the cancer has not spread to any lymph nodes. N1 indicates spread to one or more pelvic lymph nodes. Nx indicates that regional lymph nodes cannot be assessed.

M Stages -- M0 means the cancer has not metastasized beyond the regional nodes. M1 means metastases are present in distant lymph nodes, in bones, and/or other distant organs such as lungs, liver or brain. The site(s) of the metastases may be specified. Mx indicates that distant metastases cannot be assessed.

Staging
After the level of aggressiveness of your prostate cancer is known, the next step, called staging, determines if or how far the cancer has spread. Your cancer is assigned one of four stages, based on how far it has spread:

Stage I. Signifies very early cancer that's confined to a microscopic area that your doctor can't feel.
Stage II. Your cancer can be felt, but it remains confined to your prostate gland.
Stage III. Your cancer has spread beyond the prostate to the seminal vesicles or other nearby tissues.
Stage IV. Your cancer has spread to lymph nodes, bones, lungs or other organs.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/prostat...


Stage T1 disease

Stage T1a disease

Stage T1a disease is always found incidentally, usually in older men who have received a surgical procedure called a transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) to help them urinate with greater ease because their prostate is enlarged. To qualify as stage T1a, not more than 5% of the tissue removed during the transurethral resection can show signs of prostate cancer, and all the cancer cells must be "well differentiated" which means that the cells have a comparatively regular form and order. Stage T1a disease is best compared to stage A1 disease in the older Jewett-Whitmore staging system.

Stage T1b disease

Stage T1b disease is very similar to stage T1a disease. It too is always found incidentally as a result of a transurethral resection of the prostate. However, we call it stage T1b as opposed to stage T1a if more than 5% of the tissue removed is prostate cancer tissue or if that tissue is "moderately or poorly differentiated" or both. We say that cancer tissue is moderately or poorly differentiated if the cancer cells have started to become disordered and to lose their structure. Stage T1b is similar to the stage called A2 in the older Jewett-Whitmore system.

Stage T1c disease

We call a prostate cancer stage T1c when it is found as a consequence only of the patient having a positive result to a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test but no other clinical sign of the disease. This stage compares precisely to the so-called stage B0 disease in the Jewett-Whitmore staging system. Because of the rapid increase in the number of patients having PSA tests in the past few years, stage T1c has become a relatively common stage of prostate cancer to be diagnosed.
http://www.phoenix5.org/infolink/clinica...