From: Cervical Cancer Treatment (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 3. Definitions of FIGO Stage IIIa
| Stage | Description | Illustration |
|---|---|---|
| III | The carcinoma involves the lower third of the vagina and/or extends to the pelvic wall and/or causes hydronephrosis or nonfunctioning kidney and/or involves pelvic and/or para-aortic lymph nodes. | |
| IIIA | Carcinoma involves the lower third of the vagina, with no extension to the pelvic wall. |
 |
| IIIB | Extension to the pelvic wall and/or hydronephrosis or nonfunctioning kidney (unless known to be due to another cause). |
 |
| IIIC | Involvement of pelvic and/or para-aortic lymph nodes (including micrometastases)b, irrespective of tumor size and extent (with r and p notations).c |
 |
| –IIIC1 | –Pelvic lymph node metastasis only. | |
| –IIIC2 | –Para-aortic lymph node metastasis. |
FIGO = Fédération Internationale de Gynécologie et d’Obstétrique.
aAdapted from FIGO Committee for Gynecologic Oncology.[3]
bIsolated tumor cells do not change the stage, but their presence should be recorded.
cAdding notation of r (imaging) and p (pathology) to indicate the findings that are used to allocate the case to stage IIIC. For example, if imaging indicates pelvic lymph node metastasis, the stage allocation would be stage IIIC1r; if confirmed by pathological findings, it would be stage IIIC1p. The type of imaging modality or pathology technique used should always be documented. When in doubt, the lower staging should be assigned.