@ Suez, don't feel dumb. It's usually a case of don't ask don't tell--meaning, that they don't tell you if you don't ask. I asked for staging which gives those letter and number combinations. Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck has specific staging parameters. T stands for tumor, N stands for node involvement, and M stands for metastases (distant rather than in the local/regional area nodes.) After the letters, the numbers (and small letters) signify how large and invasive is the tumor, how large are the nodes as well as node location and how many are involved. Distant mets are either present or they are not, for staging purposes. When there is an unknown factor, it is listed as an X. For J, he was TXN2cMO which means he had an occult (unidentifiable) tumor, had more than one lymph node involved in different areas with a node over a specific size, and he didn't have distant mets. His "TNM" put him at a Stage IVa cancer. Later, his "T" changed from "X" to "0" meaning there isn't a tumor. If you Google staging for SSC HN, you'll get a list of places to go to find out more.

Sorry for going off topic.