The federal government has underscored the importance of early cancer detection, saying the stage at which the disease is diagnosed determines the treatment approach and chances of cure. Uchechukwu Nwokwu, National Coordinator, National Cancer Control Plan (NCCP), Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.
Mr Nwokwu also explained how cancer progresses through four stages, adding that it is not a single disease but a group of diseases that could affect different organs and behave differently depending on the type of cancer and the cells from which it originated. According to him, cancer begins when abnormal cells develop within a particular organ or body system, with the extent of spread determining its stage.
He said Stage One cancer referred to a disease that remained within the area where it originated and had not spread beyond that location. “When the cancer may arise from a small cell inside the organ of a particular system of the body, and as long as it is within the area it originated, it is an early stage, stage one,” he said.
Mr Nwokwu said Stage Two occurs when the cancer has moved beyond its original area but remains confined within the affected organ. He explained that Stage Three is when the disease has grown beyond the affected organ but remains within the same body system or surrounding region. “For example, if a breast cancer is growing beyond the breast and affects the chest wall, which is hosting the breast, that’s Stage Three,” he said.
The coordinator said Stage Four is the most advanced stage, occurring when the cancer has spread from the original organ to other systems or distant parts of the body.