Staging in CCR is always based on a diagnosis. As a result, even though the stage entries are displayed in a separate grid (the Stage/Status grid on the Overview tab of the patient detail window), each entry in that grid is linked to a diagnosis entry in the Diagnosis grid above the Stage/Status grid. Staging may be calculated automatically by CCR, in which case you would obviously need to specify a diagnosis record from which CCR takes its data to calculate staging, or a stage entry may be entered into the database manually. However, even if the stage entry is entered manually, you must first select a diagnosis record in the Diagnosis grid that the new stage entry will be linked to before you will be allowed to enter a new stage entry.

The use of the double term Stage/Status may seem a bit confusing, but the fact is there is some disagreement over whether "staging" actually applies to any diagnosis beyond the initial diagnosis of cancer. For this reason, the term "status" has been added, referring to the tracking of the progression of the cancer after its initial diagnosis and staging. For purposes of simplicity because as far as CCR is concerned the processes are the same, we will use the terms "stage" and "staging" when speaking of stage/status entries, regardless of whether the stage entry is based on an actual first diagnosis of cancer or not.