In pathology, Grading is a measure of the progress of tumors.

Cancer is a disorder of cell growth, and cancerous cells often lack differentiation, resembling primitive cell types. An important part of evaluating a cancer is to determine its histologic grade. Grade is a marker of how differentiated a cell is. Grade is rated numerically (Grade 1-4) or descriptively (e.g., "high grade" or "low grade"). The higher the numeric grade, the more "poorly differentiated" is the cell, and it is called "high grade". A low grade cancer has a low number and is "well-differentiated." Grade is most commonly given on a three-tier scale. A cancer that is very poorly differentiated is called anaplastic. Tumors may be graded on four-tier, three-tier, or two-tier scales, depending on the institution and the tumor type. A three-tier scale is most commonly used.

Examples of grading schemes

See also

• TNM#Other parameters

External links

• National Cancer Institute
• CancerWeb
• unice.fr

Grading