ELI5 Cancer Staging - what do the stages actually mean?

How do medical professionals determine whether cancer is terminal or not? How are the stages broken down? How does “normal” cancer differ from terminal cancer?   ... We explain like i'm five!   Thank you to the r/explainlikeimfive community, and specifically the following reddit users whose questions and responses formed the basis of this conversation: leapoz, reefshadow, macluawn, kterps220, med_throw_away_, idahurr, drdiesalot & bkwrmi   If you have suggestions, comments, or would like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of this podcast, please reach out to us at [email protected].