Grade
A doctor will rely on final pathology of the tumor to determine the grade and stage of the cancer. The grade is usually only determined after the tumor has been removed. The grade of cancer relates to how healthy or unhealthy cells look under a microscope. In other words, a pathologist will determine the grade of cancer by assessing the appearance of cancerous tissue versus the appearance of healthy tissue. If most of the tumor cells look like normal tissue then the cancer is “well-differentiated” or “low-grade.” However, if the tumor cells look very different from normal tissue then the cancer is “poorly differentiated” or “high-grade.” The grade of cancer may help to determine how quickly the cancer is likely to spread.
Oropharyngeal cancer grading is described as the following:
| Grade | Definition |
|---|---|
| GX | The grade cannot be evaluated. |
| G1 | The cells look more like normal tissue and are well differentiated. |
| G2 | The cells are only moderately differentiated. |
| G3 and G4 | The cells don’t look like normal tissue and are poorly differentiated. |
