Updated on: Sep 13, 2022

Cancer Locations — Cancer can be start in different spots all over the body.

Cancer Types & Disease Site Pathfinders

There are many areas that cancer can grow in the body. Different types of cancer can have different side effects and plans for treatment.

Knowing the type of cancer you have can help in your search for information. Make sure you ask your oncologist (cancer doctor) about the type, grade and stage of your cancer.

Pathfinders are 1-2 page handouts created by the Waterloo Wellington Regional Cancer Program. They are meant to give you a quick and easy view of websites, pamphlets or other resources you can count on for safe health information about your type of cancer.

They were made by teams of health care providers and patient and family advisors within the Waterloo Wellington Region. They have been reviewed and approved to make sure the information and links are reliable, safe and credible.

The Waterloo Wellington Regional Cancer Program treats the following types of cancer. Click on the type of cancer below and a new window will open with the handout.

BRAIN CANCER Brain Cancer Pathfinder	BREAST CANCER Breast Cancer Pathfinder	COLORECTAL CANCER (Colon/Rectum) Colorectal Cancer Pathfinder

GASTRIC CANCER Gastric Cancer Pathfinder	ESOPHAGEAL CANCER Esophageal Cancer Pathfinder	GYNECOLOGICAL CANCER(Cervical, ovarian, uterine, vaginal) Gynecological Cancer Pathfinder

MYELOMA Myeloma Pathfinder	LYMPHOMA Lymphoma Pathfinder	LEUKEMIA Leukemia Pathfinder

GALLBLADDER OR PANCREAS CANCER Gallbladder & Pancreatic Cancer Pathfinder	MELANOMA (Skin cancer) Melanoma Cancer Pathfinder	KIDNEY CANCER Kidney Cancer Pathfinder

PROSTATE CANCER Prostate Cancer Pathfinder	TESTICULAR CANCER Testicular Cancer Pathfinder	LUNG CANCER Lung Cancer Pathfinder

About Your Type of Cancer

If you know the type of cancer you have you can search for more information on the Canadian Cancer Society website. They have a long list of different types of cancer that you can explore.

You can find more information about:

Risk factors
Screening
Symptoms
Diagnosis and grading
Prognosis (the course or forecast of a disease)
Questions to ask

Search for information about your type of cancer.

Cancer Grade and Stage - Canadian Cancer Society

Transcript for: Cancer Grade and Stage - Canadian Cancer Society

What do cancer stage and cancer grade mean? When you have cancer, your doctors will find out as much as possible about the cancer to recommend the best treatment plan. This includes the cancer stage and grade.

Cancer grade is based on how the cancer cells look. Knowing the cancer grade helps your doctors predict how fast the cancer will grow and how likely it is to spread. Grade is usually described using a number from one to three or four; the higher the number, the more different the cancer cells look from healthy cells and the faster they are growing. Cancer stage lets your doctors know how much cancer is in your body, where it is and how far it has spread. This helps them know what treatments to use. Cancer can spread within the organ that it started in, to nearby lymph nodes or to distant sites. To find out the stage, you may have different tests. Stage is described using a number from one to four. Stage one cancer is usually small and hasn't spread outside of where it started. The higher the number, the larger the tumour or the more it has spread. Stage four usually means it has spread to distant sites. How stage and grade are used to plan treatment is different for each type of cancer. Your doctor can tell you more about the stage and grade of your cancer and what this means for you. The Canadian Cancer Society is here to help.