The 8th edition of the AJCC-TNM classification: New contributions to the staging of esophagogastric junction cancer

Abstract

The new 8th edition of the TNM classification system for esophageal and cardia or esophagogastric junction cancer provides important innovations in the TNM stages. Two classifications are presented, updated by stages, clinical (cTNM) and pathological (pTNM) methods, together with another pathological classification applicable to cases receiving neoadjuvant treatment (ypTNM). There is a notable increase in complexity compared to previous versions, but it is still early to determine whether the current modifications will result in a clear improvement in the prognostic discrimination of survival among the patient groups (which is their main objective), although the initial expectations are favorable.

Keywords: AJCC-UICC-TNM eighth edition; AJCC-UICC-TNM octava edición; Clinical stage; Cáncer de la unión esofagogástrica; Esophagogastric junction cancer; Estadio clínico; Estadio patológico; Pathological stage; Prognosis; Pronóstico.