From: Breast Cancer Treatment (Adult) (PDQ®)
PDQ Cancer Information Summaries [Internet].
Bethesda (MD): National Cancer Institute (US); 2002-.
NCBI Bookshelf. A service of the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
Table 5. Definition of Distant Metastasis (M)a
| M Category | M Criteria |
|---|---|
| M0 | No clinical or radiographic evidence of distant metastases.b |
| cM0(i+) | No clinical or radiographic evidence of distant metastases in the presence of tumor cells or deposits ≤0.2 mm detected microscopically or by molecular techniques in circulating blood, bone marrow, or other nonregional nodal tissue in a patient without symptoms or signs of metastases. |
| cM1 | Distant metastases detected by clinical and radiographic means. |
| pM1 | Any histologically proven metastases in distant organs; or if in nonregional nodes, metastases >0.2 mm. |
aReprinted with permission from AJCC: Breast, revised version. In: Amin MB, Edge SB, Greene FL, et al., eds.: AJCC Cancer Staging Manual. 8th ed. New York, NY: Springer, 2017, pp. 4–96.
bNote that imaging studies are not required to assign the cM0 category.