Revisions in the International System for Staging Lung Cancer

Revisions in stage grouping of the TNM subsets (T=primary tumor, N=regional lymph nodes, M=distant metastasis) in the International System for Staging Lung Cancer have been adopted by the American Joint Committee on Cancer and the Union Internationale Contre le Cancer. These revisions were made to provide greater specificity for identifying patient groups with similar prognoses and treatment options with the least disruption of the present classification: T1N0M0, stage IA; T2N0M0, stage IB; T1N1M0, stage IIA; T2N1M0 and T3N0M0, stage IIB; and T3N1M0, T1N2M0, T2N2M0, T3N2M0, stage IIIA. The TNM subsets in stage IIIB—T4 any N M0, any T N3M0, and in stage IV—any T any N Ml, remain the same. Analysis of a collected database representing all clinical, surgical-pathologic, and follow-up information for 5,319 patients treated for primary lung cancer confirmed the validity of the TNM and stage grouping classification schema. Revisions in stage grouping of the TNM subsets (T=primary tumor, N=regional lymph nodes, M=distant metastasis) in the International System for Staging Lung Cancer have been adopted by the American Joint Committee on Cancer and the Union Internationale Contre le Cancer. These revisions were made to provide greater specificity for identifying patient groups with similar prognoses and treatment options with the least disruption of the present classification: T1N0M0, stage IA; T2N0M0, stage IB; T1N1M0, stage IIA; T2N1M0 and T3N0M0, stage IIB; and T3N1M0, T1N2M0, T2N2M0, T3N2M0, stage IIIA. The TNM subsets in stage IIIB—T4 any N M0, any T N3M0, and in stage IV—any T any N Ml, remain the same. Analysis of a collected database representing all clinical, surgical-pathologic, and follow-up information for 5,319 patients treated for primary lung cancer confirmed the validity of the TNM and stage grouping classification schema. What's New in Staging of Lung Cancer?CHESTVol. 111Issue 6PreviewIt has been a little over 10 years since the last revision of the staging system for lung cancer by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC). The previous staging system was adopted by both the AJCC and the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) and has served as basis for staging of lung cancer since 1986.1 The last statement by the American Thoracic Society on clinical staging of lung cancer was published in 1983.2 These statements on staging have been utilized primarily for the staging of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) but could be applied to small cell lung cancer, although the staging system has not been validated for this cell type. Full-Text PDF Regional Lymph Node Classification for Lung Cancer StagingCHESTVol. 111Issue 6PreviewRecommendations for classifying regional lymph node stations for lung cancer staging have been adopted by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and the Union Internationale Contre le Cancer. The objective was to unify the two systems that have been in common use for the past 10 years; that is, the schema advocated by the AJCC, adapted from the work of Tsuguo Naruke, and the schema advocated by the American Thoracic Society and the North American Lung Cancer Study Group. Anatomic landmarks for 14 hilar, intrapulmonary, and mediastinal lymph node stations are designated. Full-Text PDF