Patients with stage II and III colon cancer are not yet considered to be in the classic advanced stages. Current oncology believes that colon cancer is categorized as stage IV and considered advanced when distant metastases occur. Common sites of metastasis for colon cancer include the liver, lungs, and bones. Stage II colon cancer patients do not have metastases to the pericolic lymph nodes, which is relatively early; stage III colon cancer patients have metastases to the pericolic lymph nodes, which is later than stage II, but as long as there are no distant metastases, it does not reach the advanced stage IV.