There are 4 stages of cancer. As cancer progresses in a patient to a higher and more and more intensive level, the stage is said to move from the lower to the higher one. Often doctors write the stage down in roman numerals. So you may see stage 4 written down as stage IV.

Here is a brief summary of what the stages mean:

• " Stage I usually means cancer is relatively new, has not progressed much, is small and contained within the organ it started in. Most cancers can be cured if detected early and cancer contained within this stage.
• " Stage II usually means that the cancer has progressed to a higher level, but is localised, the tumour is larger than in Stage I and the cancer is more intensive. Sometimes Stage II means there are nearby lymph nodes that have cancer cells in them. Cancer detection at this stage still provides a lot of hope for containment through modern medicine.
• " Stage III usually means the cancer has progressed quite a lot, the tumours are much larger and there are cancer cells in the lymph nodes in the area Stage III indicates quite an advanced stage of cancer.
• " Stage IV means that the cancer is highly advanced has spread from where it started to one or more other body organs, such as the liver, bones, lungs or brain, etc. This stage indicates, according to cancer specialists that the patient has possibly reached an irreversible stage. From now on, they say, patients can most often only is supported with palliative care. Modern medicine can hardly help at this stage.

It may be noted that yoga therapy combined with proper nutrition is useful at all stages. Yoga is particularly valuable for advanced stage cases. Patients benefit a lot with some of the alternative therapies like homeopathy and Ayurveda when they are introduced early enough.