The Federal Government has stressed the importance of early cancer diagnosis, saying the stage at which the disease is detected significantly influences treatment options and the chances of achieving a cure.
The National Coordinator of the National Cancer Control Plan, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr Uchechukwu Nwokwu, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Abuja.
Nwokwu explained that cancer was 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 developed.
He said cancer begins when abnormal cells develop in a particular organ or body system, while the extent to which those cells have spread determines the stage of the disease.
According to him, cancer is generally classified into four stages, with Stage One representing disease that remains confined to the area where it originated.
“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 is an early stage, stage one,” he said.
The coordinator explained that Stage Two occurs when the cancer has moved beyond its original area but remains within the affected organ.
Stage Three, he said, occurs when the disease extends 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.
Nwokwu described Stage Four as the most advanced stage, occurring when cancer spreads from its original organ to distant parts or other body systems.
He said this spread, known as metastasis, could make treatment significantly more complex.
“So when it leaves the whole of where it’s growing, it’s a different system; we call it metastasis. That’s stage four,” he said.
He cited breast cancer as an example, explaining that cancer originating in the breast could spread to the brain, bones, liver or lungs, even though tests would show that the tumours in those locations originated from the breast.
Nwokwu said the stage at which cancer is detected has major implications for treatment and the possibility of achieving a cure.
He explained that some Stage One cancers could potentially be treated successfully with surgery alone because the disease remains confined to its original location.
“If you have somebody who has breast cancer in stage one, as I said, it’s still within where it started from.
“You might just cut off that place and do a surgery that can just take a small part of the normal tissue where it has not affected, and with that surgery alone, the person is completely cured of that cancer,” he said.
He noted that surgery could also be effective for some Stage Two cancers because the disease remains within the affected organ.
However, Nwokwu said patients with Stage Two and Stage Three cancers could require combinations of treatments, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
He explained that doctors could also administer neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy alongside surgery, depending on the nature of the cancer and the patient’s condition.
Targeted therapy, he added, could be used in cancers driven by particular hormones or biological mechanisms.
Nwokwu cited prostate cancer, explaining that some patients could undergo removal of the testes to reduce testosterone, a hormone that can stimulate the growth of some prostate cancers.
He, however, noted that some advanced prostate cancers could eventually become resistant to this approach, a condition known as castration-resistant prostate cancer, requiring other medicines to control disease progression.
The coordinator said treatment becomes more complicated when cancer reaches Stage Four because the disease may affect several parts of the body.
He explained that chemotherapy could be useful in some cases because it is a systemic treatment capable of reaching cancer cells in different parts of the body.
Radiotherapy, however, has to be applied more selectively, depending on where the cancer has spread and the overall condition of the patient.
Nwokwu said the differences in treatment across the four stages demonstrated why early cancer diagnosis remains critical.
According to him, detecting the disease before it spreads enables doctors to establish its stage and determine the most appropriate treatment strategy.
He also stressed that cancer treatment must be individualised because cancers affecting the same organ can behave differently according to their biological characteristics.
The coordinator urged Nigerians to seek medical attention promptly when they notice unusual symptoms.
He also encouraged people to follow appropriate screening and diagnostic recommendations, noting that detecting cancer early can improve treatment options and increase the possibility of better outcomes.
