# Oesophageal and junctional cancer staging (AJCC chapter 16)

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/oesophageal-ogj-staging/  
OnCo record `oesophageal-ogj-staging` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Oesophageal cancer is staged from 0 (high-grade dysplasia in the lining) to IV (spread to distant organs), with separate stage groups for squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma.

## Summary

AJCC chapter 16 covers the oesophagus and oesophagogastric junction and is an 8th edition chapter in the AJCC 2026 table. The NCI's summary gives separate stage groupings for squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma, each running from stage 0, also called high-grade dysplasia, where cancer is in the inner lining of the oesophagus wall, through stages I to III to stage IV. Grade (1 to 3, by how abnormal the cells look) enters the stage grouping for early disease. Staging tests include endoscopic ultrasound, CT, PET-CT and MRI. The stage descriptions are those in the National Cancer Institute's PDQ summary, which follows the AJCC tables.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Also known as: oesophageal cancer staging; esophageal cancer staging; oesophageal cancer stage

## Sources

- National Cancer Institute, Esophageal cancer stages: https://www.cancer.gov/types/esophageal/stages
- American College of Surgeons, AJCC Current Staging System 2026 (which chapters are 8th edition and which Version 9): https://www.facs.org/media/c5ik5tkr/ajcc-current-staging-system-2026.pdf

## Connected records

- terms: [AJCC stage (TNM staging manual)](https://onco.cc/terms/ajcc-stage/), [Disease-specific staging and risk systems (FIGO, Ann Arbor, IPI, R-ISS, ELN, IMDC)](https://onco.cc/terms/staging-systems/), [Endoscopy (EGD, EUS, ERCP)](https://onco.cc/terms/endoscopy/), [TNM staging](https://onco.cc/terms/tnm-staging/)
- cancers: [Oesophageal and junctional adenocarcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/oesophageal-adenocarcinoma/), [Oesophageal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/esophageal/), [Oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/oesophageal-squamous-cell-carcinoma/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/oesophageal-ogj-staging.json