• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.236-245
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• 2021

Purpose: The numeric N stage has replaced the topographic N stage in the current tumor node metastasis (TNM) staging in gastric carcinoma. However, the usefulness of the topographic N stage in the current TNM staging system is uncertain. We aimed to investigate the prognostic value of the topographic N stage in the current TNM staging system. Materials and Methods: We reviewed the data of 3350 patients with gastric cancer who underwent curative gastrectomy. The anatomic regions of the metastatic lymph nodes (MLNs) were classified into 2 groups: perigastric and extra-perigastric. The prognostic value of the anatomic region was analyzed using a multivariate prognostic model with adjustments for the TNM stage. Results: In patients with lymph node metastasis, extra-perigastric metastasis demonstrated significantly worse survival than perigastric metastasis alone (5-year survival rate, 39.6% vs. 73.1%, respectively, P<0.001). Extra-perigastric metastasis demonstrated significantly worse survival within the same pN stage; the multivariate analysis indicated that extra-perigastric metastasis was an independent poor prognostic factor (hazard ratio=1.33; 95% confidence interval=1.01-1.75). The anatomic region of the MLNs improved the goodness-of-fit (likelihood ratio statistics, 4.57; P=0.033) of the prognostic model using the TNM stage. Conclusions: The anatomic region of MLNs has an independent prognostic value in the numeric N stage in the current TNM staging of gastric carcinoma.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.322-332
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• 1998

Background: Accurate staging is important to determine treatment modalities and to predict prognosis for the patients with lung cancer. The simple two-stage system of the Veteran's Administration Lung Cancer study Group has been used for staging of small cell lung cancer(SCLC) because treatment usually consists of chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy. However, this system does not accurately reflect segregation of patients into homogenous prognostic groups. Therefore, a variety of new staging system have been proposed as more intensive treatments including either intensive radiotherapy or surgery enter clinical trials. We evaluate the prognostic importance of TNM staging, which has the advantage of providing a uniform detailed classification of tumor spread, in patients with SCLC. Methods: The medical records of 166 patients diagnosed with SCLC between January 1989 and December 1996 were reviewed retrospectively. The influence of TNM stage on survival was analyzed in 147 patients, among 166 patients, who had complete TNM staging data. Results: Three patients were classified in stage I / II, 15 in stage III a, 78 in stage IIIb and 48 in stage IV. Survival rate at 1 and 2 years for these patients were as follows: stage I / II, 75% and 37.5% ; stage IIIa, 46.7% and 25.0% ; stage III b, 34.3% and 11.3% ; and stage IV, 2.6% and 0%. The 2-year survival rates for 84 patients who received chemotherapy(more than 2 cycles) with or without radiotherapy were as follows: stage I / II, 37.5% ; stage rna, 31.3% ; stage IIIb 13.5% ; and stage IV 0%. Overall outcome according to TNM staging was significantly different whether or not received treatment. However, there was no significant difference between stage IIIa and stage IIIb though median survival and 2-year survival rate were higher in stage IIIa than stage IIIb. Conclusion: These results suggest that the TNM staging system may be helpful for predicting the prognosis of patients with SCLC.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.142-151
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• 2018

Purpose: The modification of the cancer classification system aimed to improve the classical anatomy-based tumor, node, metastasis (TNM) staging by considering tumor biology, which is associated with patient prognosis, because such information provides additional precision and flexibility. Materials and Methods: We previously developed an mRNA expression-based single patient classifier (SPC) algorithm that could predict the prognosis of patients with stage II/III gastric cancer. We also validated its utilization in clinical settings. The prognostic single patient classifier (pSPC) differentiates based on 3 prognostic groups (low-, intermediate-, and high-risk), and these groups were considered as independent prognostic factors along with TNM stages. We evaluated whether the modified TNM staging system based on the pSPC has a better prognostic performance than the TNM 8th edition staging system. The data of 652 patients who underwent gastrectomy with curative intent for gastric cancer between 2000 and 2004 were evaluated. Furthermore, 2 other cohorts (n=307 and 625) from a previous study were assessed. Thus, 1,584 patients were included in the analysis. To modify the TNM staging system, one-grade down-staging was applied to low-risk patients according to the pSPC in the TNM 8th edition staging system; for intermediate- and high-risk groups, the modified TNM and TNM 8th edition staging systems were identical. Results: Among the 1,584 patients, 187 (11.8%), 664 (41.9%), and 733 (46.3%) were classified into the low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups, respectively, according to the pSPC. pSPC prognoses and survival curves of the overall population were well stratified, and the TNM stage-adjusted hazard ratios of the intermediate- and high-risk groups were 1.96 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.41-2.72; P<0.001) and 2.54 (95% CI, 1.84-3.50; P<0.001), respectively. Using Harrell's C-index, the prognostic performance of the modified TNM system was evaluated, and the results showed that its prognostic performance was better than that of the TNM 8th edition staging system in terms of overall survival (0.635 vs. 0.620, P<0.001). Conclusions: The pSPC-modified TNM staging is an alternative staging system for stage II/III gastric cancer.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.233-244
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• 2020

Purpose: For unresectable or initially metastatic gastric cancer, conversion surgery (CVS), after systemic chemotherapy, has received attention as a treatment strategy. This study evaluated the prognostic value of ypTNM stage and the oncologic outcomes in patients receiving CVS. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of clinicopathologic findings and oncologic outcomes of 116 patients who underwent CVS with curative intent, after combination chemotherapy, between January 2000 and December 2015, has been reported here. Results: Twenty-six patients (22.4%) underwent combined resection of another organ and 12 patients received para-aortic lymphadenectomy (10.3%). Pathologic complete remission (CR) was confirmed in 11 cases (9.5%). The median overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) times were 35.0 and 21.3 months, respectively. In multivariate analysis, ypTNM stage was the sole independent prognostic factor for DFS (P=0.042). Tumors invading an adjacent organ or involving distant lymph nodes showed better survival than those with peritoneal seeding or solid organ metastasis (P=0.084). Kaplan-Meier curves showed that the 3-year OS rate of patients with pathologic CR and those with CR of the primary tumor but residual node metastasis was 81.8% and 80.0%, respectively. OS was 65.8% for stage 1 patients, 49.8% for those at stage 2, and 36.3% for those at stage 3. Conclusions: The ypTNM staging is a significant prognostic factor in patients who underwent CVS for localized unresectable or stage IV gastric cancers. Patients with locally advanced but unresectable lesions or with tumors with distant nodal metastasis may be good candidates for CVS.

• Smart Media Journal
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.126-133
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• 2020

The treatment policy and prognosis are determined based on the final stage of lung cancer patients. The final stage of lung cancer patients is determined based on the T, N, and M stage classification table provided by the American Cancer Society (AJCC). However, the final stage of AJCC has limitations in its use for various fields such as patient treatment, prognosis and survival days prediction. In this paper, clustering algorithm which is one of non-supervised learning algorithms was assessed in order to check whether using only T, N, M stages with a data science method is effective for classifying the group of patients in the aspect of survival days. The final stage groups and T, N, M stage clustering groups of lung cancer patients were compared by using the cox proportional hazard model. It is confirmed that the accuracy of prediction of survival days with only T, N, M stages becomes higher than the accuracy with the final stages of patients. Especially, the accuracy of prediction of survival days with clustering of T, N, M stages improves when more or less clusters are analyzed than the seven clusters which is same to the number of final stage of AJCC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.2091-2095
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• 2013

Background: The $7^{th}$ TNM staging is the first authoritative standard for evaluation of effectiveness of treatment of gastric cancer worldwide. However, revision of pN classification within TNM needs to be discussed. In particular, the N3 sub-stage is becoming more conspicuous. Methods: Clinical data of 302 pN3M0 stage gastric cancer patients who received radical gastrectomy in Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital from January 2001 to May 2006 were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Location of tumor, depth of invasion, extranodal metastasis, gastric resection, combined organs resection, lymph node metastasis, rate of lymph node metastasis, negative lymph nodes count were important prognostic factors of pN3M0 stage gastric cancers. TNM stage was also associated with prognosis. Patients at T2N3M0 stage had a better prognosis than other sub-classification. T3N3M0 and T4aN3aM0 patients had equal prognosis which followed the T2N3M0. T4aN3bM0 and T4bN3aM0 had lower survival rate than the formers. T4bN3bM0 had worst prognosis. In multivariate analysis, TNM stage group and rate of lymph node metastasis were independent prognostic factors. Conclusions: The sub-stage of N3 may be useful for more accurate prediction of prognosis; it should therefore be applied in the TNM stage system.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.124-135
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• 2019

Background: We aimed to establish robust histoprognostic predictors on residual rectal cancer after preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT). Methods: Analyzing known histoprognostic factors in 146 patients with residual disease allows associations with patient outcome to be evaluated. Results: The median follow-up time was 77.8 months, during which 59 patients (40.4%) experienced recurrence and 41 (28.1%) died of rectal cancer. On univariate analysis, residual tumor size, ypT category, ypN category, ypTNM stage, downstage, tumor regression grade, lymphatic invasion, perineural invasion, venous invasion, and circumferential resection margin (CRM) were significantly associated with recurrence free survival (RFS) or/and cancer-specific survival (CSS) (all p<0.005). On multivariate analysis, higher ypTNM stage and CRM positivity were identified as independent prognostic factors for RFS (ypTNM stage, p=0.024; CRM positivity, p<0.001) and CSS (p=0.022, p=0.017, respectively). Furthermore, CRM positivity was an independent predictor of reduced RFS and CSS, irrespective of subgrouping according to downstage (non-downstage, p<0.001 and p<0.001; downstage, p=0.002 and p=0.002) or lymph node metastasis (non-metastasis, p<0.001 and p=0.001; metastasis, p<0.001 and p<0.001). Conclusion: CRM status may be as powerful as ypTNM stage as a prognostic indicator for patient outcome in patients with residual rectal cancer after preoperative CRT.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.212-219
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• 2017

Purpose: The aims of this study were to compare the 7th and 8th editions of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging manuals on tumor, node, and metastasis (TNM) staging systems and to evaluate whether the 8th edition represents a better refinement of the 7th staging system, when applied for the classification of gastric cancers. Materials and Methods: A total of 5,507 gastric cancer patients, who underwent treatment from January 1989 to December 2013 at a single institute, were included. We compared patient survival rates across the disease groups classified according to the 7th and 8th editions of the AJCC TNM staging systems. Results: Stage migration was observed in 6.4% (n=355) of the patients. Of these, 3.5% (n=192) and 2.9% (n=158) of patients showed a higher stage and lower stage, respectively. According to the 8th edition of the AJCC TNM staging criteria, the 5-year overall survival rates of the patients with stage IIIB and IIIC showed a significant difference (40.8% vs. 20.2%, P<0.001) whereas no significant differences in the 5-year overall survival rates were observed according to the 7th edition criteria (37.6% vs. 33.2%, P=0.381). Conclusions: Restaging stage III cancers according to the 8th edition of the AJCC TNM classification criteria improved survival rate discrimination, particularly, in institutes where the stage III patients were not distinctly categorized.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.78-85
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• 2011

Since January of 2010, the seventh edition of UICC tumor node metastasis (TNM) Classification, which has recently been revised, has been applied to almost all cases of malignant tumors. Compared to previous editions, the merits and demerits of the current revisions were analyzed. Many revisions have been made for criteria for the classification of lymph nodes. In particular, all the cases in whom the number of lymph nodes is more than 7 were classified as N3 without being differentiated. Therefore, the coverage of the N3 was broad. Owing to this, there was no consistency in predicting the prognosis of the N3 group. By determining the positive cases to a distant metastasis as TNM stage IV, the discrepancy in the TNM stage IV compared to the sixth edition was resolved. In regard to the classification system for an esophagogastric (EG) junction carcinoma, it was declared that cases of an invasion to the EG junction should follow the classification system for esophageal cancer. A review of clinical cases reported from Asian patients suggests that it would be more appropriate to follow the previous editions of the classification system for gastric cancer. In addition, in the classification of the TNM stages in the overall cases, the discrepancy in the prognosis between the different stages and the consistency in the prognosis between the same TNM stages were achieved to a lesser extent as compared to that previously. Accordingly, further revisions are needed to develop a purposive classification method where the prognosis can be predicted specifically to each variable and the mode of the overall classification can be simplified.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.83-90
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• 2019

Objectives: This study evaluated the predictive factors for survival of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and investigated the overall and disease-specific survival (DSS) outcomes. Materials and Methods: A total of 67 consecutive patients who underwent surgery for OSCC from January 2006 to November 2014 were included in this study. Patients were classified according to age, sex, pTNM stages, primary sites, smoking and alcohol drinking habits, depth of invasion, perineural and lymphovascular invasion, cell differentiation and postoperative radiotherapy. Kaplan-Meier methods were used to estimate the survival categorized by patient groups. Cox regression methods were used to investigate the main independent predictors of survival. Results: Nineteen patients died of OSCC during follow-up periods. Another five patients died of other diseases including lung adenocarcinoma (n=1), cerebral infarction (n=1), general weakness (n=2), and pneumonia (n=1). The tongue (n=16) was the most common site for primary origin, followed by buccal mucosa (n=15), mandibular gingiva (n=15), maxillary gingiva (n=9), floor of mouth (n=9), retromolar trigone (n=2), and palate (n=1). Eleven patients had pTNM stage I disease, followed by stage II (n=22) and stage IV (n=34). No patients had pTNM stage III disease in this study. The overall survival of all patients was 64.2% and the DSS was 71.6%. DSS of patients with stage I and II disease was 100%. Stepwise Cox regression showed the two predictors for DSS were pTNM stage (P<0.0001, odds ratio=19.633) and presence of metastatic lymph nodes (P=0.0004, odds ratio=0.1039). Conclusion: OSCC has been associated with poor prognosis; however, there were improved survival outcomes compared with past studies. Advanced-stage disease and presence of metastatic lymph nodes were associated with poorer survival compared with early-stage OSCC and absence of neck node metastasis. Stage I and II OSCC were associated with excellent survival results in this study.