American Joint Committee On Cancer Seventh Research Articles

Health Economic Consequences Associated With COVID-19–Related Delay in Melanoma Diagnosis in Europe

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in delayed access to medical care. Restrictions to health care specialists, staff shortages, and fear of SARS-CoV-2 infection led to interruptions in routine care, such as early melanoma detection; however, premature mortality and economic burden associated with this postponement have not been studied yet. To determine the premature mortality and economic costs associated with suspended melanoma screenings during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns by estimating the total burden of delayed melanoma diagnoses for Europe. This multicenter economic evaluation used population-based data from patients aged at least 18 years with invasive primary cutaneous melanomas stages I to IV according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) seventh and eighth editions, including melanomas of unknown primary (T0). Data were collected from January 2017 to December 2021 in Switzerland and from January 2019 to December 2021 in Hungary. Data were used to develop an estimation of melanoma upstaging rates in AJCC stages, which was verified with peripandemic data. Years of life lost (YLL) were calculated and were, together with cost data, used for financial estimations. The total financial burden was assessed through direct and indirect treatment costs. Models were building using data from 50 072 patients aged 18 years and older with invasive primary cutaneous melanomas stages I to IV according to the AJCC seventh and eighth edition, including melanomas of unknown primary (T0) from 2 European tertiary centers. Data from European cancer registries included patient-based direct and indirect cost data, country-level economic indicators, melanoma incidence, and population rates per country. Data were analyzed from July 2021 to September 2022. COVID-19 lockdown-related delay of melanoma detection and consecutive public health and economic burden. As lockdown restrictions varied by country, lockdown scenario was defined as elimination of routine medical examinations and severely restricted access to follow-up examinations for at least 4 weeks. Primary outcomes were the total burden of a delay in melanoma diagnosis during COVID-19 lockdown periods, measured using the direct (in US$) and indirect (calculated as YLL plus years lost due to disability [YLD] and disability-adjusted life-years [DALYs]) costs for Europe. Secondary outcomes included estimation of upstaging rate, estimated YLD, YLL, and DALY for each European country, absolute direct and indirect treatment costs per European country, proportion of the relative direct and indirect treatment costs for the countries, and European health expenditure. There were an estimated 111 464 (range, 52 454-295 051) YLL due to pandemic-associated delay in melanoma diagnosis in Europe, and estimated total additional costs were $7.65 (range, $3.60 to $20.25) billion. Indirect treatment costs were the main cost driver, accounting for 94.5% of total costs. Estimates for YLD in Europe resulted in 15 360 years for the 17% upstaging model, ranging from 7228 years (8% upstaging model) to 40 660 years (45% upstaging model). Together, YLL and YLD constitute the overall disease burden, ranging from 59 682 DALYs (8% upstaging model) to 335 711 DALYs (45% upstaging model), with 126 824 DALYs for the real-world 17% scenario. This economic analysis emphasizes the importance of continuing secondary skin cancer prevention measures during pandemics. Beyond the personal outcomes of a delayed melanoma diagnosis, the additional economic and public health consequences are underscored, emphasizing the need to include indirect economic costs in future decision-making processes. These estimates on DALYs and the associated financial losses complement previous studies highlighting the cost-effectiveness of screening for melanoma.

Staging System Performance and Clinical Outcomes for Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Ear: A Single-Center Retrospective Study.

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) of the ear is associated with poor outcomes. No studies have evaluated current staging system performance in this specific location. Describe clinicopathologic characteristics and outcomes of ear cSCC and evaluate the performance of current staging systems. Retrospective study including cases diagnosed and treated at a cancer center from January 2000 to December 2014. Demographic, clinical, and pathologic data were collected from clinical records. Biopsy slides were rereviewed and patients were staged according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) seventh, eighth, and Brigham Women's Hospital (BWH) staging. Of 125 patients, the mean age at diagnosis was 71.9 years (SD 12.5), with most men (89.6%, n = 112). Median follow-up was 22.3 months. Local recurrence and survival risk factors were similar to cSCC outside the ear. The Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) estimates showed that the BWH system better predicted outcomes than the AJCC seventh, and the AJCC eighth, with AIC values of 189.9, 270.5, and 274.1, respectively. Limitations of the study include retrospective design, single center study, and no control group. Current staging systems perform well at stratifying risk in ear cSCC.

Stage-Specific Survival in Breast Cancer in Chinese and White Women: Comparative Data Analysis.

Stage-specific survival, according to the eighth edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) pathological prognostic staging (PPS) on breast cancer (BC), between Chinese and White American women remains unclear. This study aimed to assess stage-specific survival in BC between Chinese and White American women according to the eighth AJCC PPS. We included Chinese and White American women with BC diagnosed between 2010 and 2018 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. A chi-square test, the Kaplan-Meier method, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used for data analysis. We included 376,818 individuals in this study: 369,522 White American and 7296 Chinese. Of them, 149,452 (39.7%) migrated from the seventh AJCC anatomic staging (AS) to the eighth AJCC PPS, 22,516 (6.0%) were upstaged, and 126,936 (33.7%) were downstaged. With a median follow-up duration of 44 months, the 5-year overall survival and cancer-specific survival (CSS) for the entire group were 87.4% and 95.9%, respectively. The seventh AJCC AS (P<.001) and the eighth AJCC PPS (P<.001) could significantly predict the survival outcomes of BC, and multivariate analysis revealed that both staging systems were significant prognostic indicators of CSS. The ROC curve revealed that the PPS had a better discriminating ability than the AS (area under the curve [AUC] 0.769 vs 0.753, P<.001). Similar trends were observed after stratification by the 2 ethnic groups. The eighth AJCC PPS had better discriminating ability than the seventh AJCC AS among both White American (AUC 0.769 vs 0.753, P<.001) and Chinese patients (AUC 0.790 vs 0.776, P<.001). In the seventh AJCC AS, Chinese women had better CSS in stage IA (P=.02), stage IIA (P=.005), and stage IIIB (P=.04) disease than White American women, but no significant CSS was observed in stage IB, IIB, IIIA, and IIIC disease between the 2 ethnic groups. Regarding the eighth AJCC PPS, Chinese women had better CSS in stage IA (P=.002) and IIIA (P=.046) disease than White American women, and CSS was similar in Chinese and White American women in other substages. The eighth AJCC PPS has a similar discriminative ability between White American and Chinese individuals with BC compared with the seventh AJCC AS. Therefore, the eighth AJCC PPS is also applicable to Chinese individuals with BC.

What are the problems with the current staging of discontinuous tumour nodules (DTNs) in colorectal carcinoma? Is there a better way?

Discontinuous extramural tumour nodules (DTNs) are deposits of metastatic carcinoma in soft tissue not associated with lymph nodes. Although they are established as an adverse prognostic factor in colorectal carcinoma (CRC), under the AJCC eighth edition staging system their presence does not upstage patients who also have lymph node metastases. Counterintuitively, in some situations the presence of lymph node metastases may in effect downstage a patient with DTNs from pN1c to pN1a/b. Therefore, we sought to critically assess the significance of DTNs in a large unselected single institution cohort of patients undergoing surgical resection for CRC. Of 3822 CRC patients undergoing surgical resection from 2005 to 2021, DTNs were present in 686 (18.0%). In univariate (HR=2.687, 95CI 2.355-3.065; p<0.001) and multivariate analysis (HR=1.805, 95CI 1.529-2.132; p<0.001) in a model including age, gender, stage, grade, location, lymph node ratio and apical lymph node status, DTNs were associated with worse overall survival (OS). N1c patients (DTN present but no nodal metastasis) demonstrated worse OS compared to the current pN1a group (p<0.001) and were least different to the current pN2a group (p=0.571). Within the current N1a (p=0.013), N1b (p=0.004) and N2a (p=0.002) groups, patients who also had DTNs had worse OS. DTNs were associated with worse OS for all stage III CRCs combined (p<0.001), and for stage IIIB (p<0.001) and stage IIIC (p=0.007) individually. We conclude that DTNs are an independent adverse prognostic factor that should be considered in the staging system in a way that is additional to (rather than integrated with) the number of involved lymph nodes. We then assess a simple suggestion for how this could be achieved by increasing the overall stage by one group in the presence of DTNs (requiring the creation of a new stage IIID).

Stage migration and treatment outcome in carcinoma tongue - A comparison of seventh and eighth AJCC pathological staging systems.

The eighth edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) for oral cancer has incorporated additional pathological features like depth of invasion (DOI) and extranodal extension (ENE) into T and N staging. The incorporation of these two factors will impact the staging and, hence, the treatment decisions. The aim of the study was to clinically validate the new staging system in predicting the outcome in patients treated for carcinoma oral tongue. The study also examined the correlation of pathological risk factors with survival. We studied 70 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue who underwent primary surgical treatment at a tertiary care center in the year 2012. All these patients were restaged pathologically according to the new AJCC eighth staging system. The 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Akaike information criterion and concordance index were calculated between both staging systems to identify a better predictive model. Log-rank test and univariate Cox regression analysis were conducted to find out the significance of different pathological factors on outcome. Incorporation of DOI and ENE resulted in 47.2% and 12.8% stage migration, respectively. DOI less than 5 mm was associated with a 5-year OS and DFS of 100% and 92.9%, respectively, compared to 88.7% and 85.1%, respectively, when the DOI was more than 5 mm. Presence of lymph node involvement, ENE, and perineural invasion (PNI) were associated with inferior survival. The eighth edition had lower Akaike information criterion and improved concordance index values compared with the seventh edition. The eighth edition of AJCC allows better risk stratification. Restaging of cases based on the eighth edition AJCC staging manual resulted in significant upstaging with difference in survival.

Predicting Survival of Patients With Rectal Neuroendocrine Tumors Using Machine Learning: A SEER-Based Population Study

Background: The number of patients diagnosed with rectal neuroendocrine tumors (R-NETs) is increasing year by year. An integrated survival predictive model is required to predict the prognosis of R-NETs. The present study is aimed at exploring epidemiological characteristics of R-NETs based on a retrospective study from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database and predicting survival of R-NETs with machine learning.Methods: Data of patients with R-NETs were extracted from the SEER database (2000–2017), and data were also retrospectively collected from a single medical center in China. The main outcome measure was the 5-year survival status. Risk factors affecting survival were analyzed by Cox regression analysis, and six common machine learning algorithms were chosen to build the predictive models. Data from the SEER database were divided into a training set and an internal validation set according to the year 2010 as a time point. Data from China were chosen as an external validation set. The best machine learning predictive model was compared with the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) seventh staging system to evaluate its predictive performance in the internal validation dataset and external validation dataset.Results: A total of 10,580 patients from the SEER database and 68 patients from a single medical center were included in the analysis. Age, gender, race, histologic type, tumor size, tumor number, summary stage, and surgical treatment were risk factors affecting survival status. After the adjustment of parameters and algorithms comparison, the predictive model using the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) algorithm had the best predictive performance in the training set [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.87, 95%CI: 0.86–0.88]. In the internal validation, the predictive ability of XGBoost was better than that of the AJCC seventh staging system (AUC: 0.90 vs. 0.78). In the external validation, the XGBoost predictive model (AUC = 0.89) performed better than the AJCC seventh staging system (AUC = 0.83).Conclusions: The XGBoost algorithm had better predictive power than the AJCC seventh staging system, which had a potential value of the clinical application.

Comparison of the sixth, seventh, and eighth editions of the American Joint Committee on Cancer Tumor-Node-Metastasis staging system for gastric cancer: A single institution experience.

In 2018, the eighth edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer Tumor-Node-Metastasis classification and staging system was implemented. Few reports were made comparing the performance of different editions of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) system. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the prognostic predictability from the sixth to the eighth editions of the AJCC staging system for gastric cancer.A total of 414 patients with gastric cancer who underwent surgery at Changhua Christian Hospital from January 2007 to December 2017 were enrolled in the study. To identify the prognostic factors for gastric cancer death, univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. The homogeneity and discrimination abilities of the sixth to eighth editions of the staging system were compared using the likelihood ratio chi-square test, linear trend chi-square test, and Akaike information criterion.The sixth edition of the staging system had the lowest Akaike information criterion value, suggesting a better prognostic stratification than other editions. From the result of the likelihood ratio chi-square test, the T and N staging systems of the seventh and eighth editions had better homogeneity and discriminatory ability than the sixth edition. The eighth edition had better prognostic performance in patients at stage III compared with the seventh edition.The AJCC seventh and eighth editions had improved prognostic predictability of the T and N factors compared with the sixth edition. However, the overall staging performance of the eighth edition is not superior compared to the sixth edition. Further studies with larger sample size should be conducted to compare the performance of different editions of the AJCC staging system for different ethnic populations.

Construction and validation of nomograms for non-metastatic Ewing sarcoma: A prognostic factor analysis based on the SEER database.

Ewing sarcoma is the second most common osseous disease in children and adolescents. It presents with a poor prognosis due to the high degree of malignancy and distant metastasis. In order to predict the disease prognosis and investigate a suitable therapeutic strategy for Ewing sarcoma, the present study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics, and to construct and validate nomograms for patients with non-metastatic Ewing sarcoma. A total of 627 cases of non-metastatic Ewing sarcoma were retrospectively collected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database between 2005 and 2014. Survival analysis and a machine learning model were used to identify independent prognostic variables and establish nomograms to estimate overall survival (OS) and cause-specific survival (CSS). The nomograms were bootstrap internally validated and externally validated using non-metastatic Ewing sarcoma cases from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University. The accuracy was also assessed by comparing with current American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging systems. The total series consisted of 627 patients with non-metastatic Ewing sarcoma with a mean age of 20.14 years. Age, tumor extension, sex, International Classification of Diseases for Oncology, 3rd Edition histology, surgery and chemotherapy were identified as independent risk factors for OS and CSS. The aforementioned outcomes were incorporated to construct the nomograms, and the concordance indices (C-indices) for internal validation of OS and CSS prediction were 0.791 and 0.813, which were higher than those for AJCC sixth edition (OS, 0.531; CSS, 0.534) and seventh edition (OS, 0.547; CSS, 0.561), while the C-indices for external validation of OS and CSS prediction were 0.834 and 0.825, respectively. In conclusion, age, sex, tumor extension and surgery were independent prognostic factors for both OS and CSS. In addition, with regard to OS, the Ewing sarcoma subtype was a poor factor and chemotherapy was a favorable one. Nomograms based on reduced Cox models attained a satisfactory accuracy in predicting the survival of patients with non-metastatic Ewing sarcoma and could assist clinicians in evaluating survival more accurately.

Comparative assessment of the eighth and seventh AJCC staging edition prognostic performance of patients with p16 positive oropharynx cancer.

6067 Background: The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM staging system defines the anatomical extent of disease and serves as a guide for treatment and prognosis. The favorable prognosis of p16+ oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) compared to p16 negative counterpart led to major updates in the AJCC 8th edition. Its prognostic performance, however, warrants further validation. Methods: We included patients diagnosed with p16+ OPSCC enrolled in a prospective registry ( Stiefel) at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center between March 2015 and December 2018. Patients’ stage at diagnosis was classified according to the AJCC 7th (AJCC-7) and 8th (AJCC-8) editions. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) was defined as time from diagnosis to death or to progression or death, respectively. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate 1- and 3-year survival probabilities. Differences between groups were compared using the log-rank test. Prognostic discriminative performance of each staging system was evaluated using Harrel’s C-statistic. Survival differences between heavy (&gt; 10 pack-years [PY]) vs. light/never smokers (≤ 10 PY) by AJCC-8 staging groups was assessed with the log-rank test. Results: Of 463 patients, the median follow-up was 34.7 months (2.3-169.74). Nearly 90% (N=413) of patients were down-staged from AJCC-7 to AJCC-8 with 69% of patients with IVA disease based on AJCC-7 (N=319) re-staged as stage I (N=196 [42%]), II (N=79 [17%]) or III (44 [10%]) according to AJCC-8. Over 60% (N=279) of patients were staged as I with AJCC-8. Compared to AJCC-7, AJCC-8 had improved prognostic ability (C-statistic, 0.58 for AJCC-7 vs. 0.63 for AJCC-8) and provided better discriminative survival probabilities at 1 and 3-year follow-up (Table). Similar results were observed for PFS. Smoking status did not impact OS when stratified by AJCC-8 staging groups: I, p=0.347; II, p=0.310; and III, p=0.532 for &gt; 10 vs. ≤ 10 PY. Conclusions: Our cohort validates that the AJCC-8 provides better prognostic discriminative performance when compared to AJCC-7, however, a disproportionate number of patients were classified as stage I. Smoking was not associated with survival within each staging group.[Table: see text]

Comparison of Early Oral Cancer Depth of Invasion From the American Joint Committe on Cancer 7th to 8th Edition Criteria. Does the Difference Impact the Accuracy of Clinical Decision Making?

Depth of invasion (DOI) is an independent predictor of regional metastasis in oral squamous cell carcinoma. Measurement criteria for DOI were modified in the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) eighth edition. The purpose of this study was to compare DOI AJCC seventh (DOI7) and eighth (DOI8) edition criteria on frozen section accuracy for decisions regarding elective neck dissection (END) in cT1N0 oral squamous cell carcinoma. A blinded, retrospective, comparative study of patients who underwent ablative surgery at the University of Michigan was completed. The predictor variable was criteria for DOI measurement. The outcome variables were concordance between DOI7 and DOI8 measurements and accuracy using thresholds for END. Effect of tumor growth pattern and worst pattern of invasion, and the difference between DOI8 on frozen and permanent specimen were assessed. A total of 30 specimens of T1N0 oral squamous cell carcinoma (16 tongue, 5 alveolus, 5 floor of mouth, 4 buccal mucosa) were included. DOI7 versus DOI8 on frozen and permanent specimen were significantly different (P<.05) but clinically insignificant and highly correlated (r>0.99, P<.001). One hundred percent concordance between DOI7 and DOI8 was noted on frozen specimen in predicting the need for END when compared with permanent pathology DOI. There was no significant impact of tumor growth pattern or worst pattern of invasion on measurements and no significant difference in DOI on frozen and permanent specimen for DOI8 (P=.68). Excellent agreement between pathologists for all measurements was observed (ICC>0.99, P<0001). High concordance between DOI measurements by AJCC seventh and eighth edition criteria suggests that guidelines for DOI thresholds for END in patients with T1N0 tumors developed using the AJCC seventh edition can be safely applied using AJCC eighth edition criteria. DOI measurement by AJCC 8 criteria on frozen specimen can be used to guide decision-making regarding END, given the high correlation to AJCC 8 permanent DOI measurement.

Differences in 7th and 8th edition American Joint Committee on Cancer staging for periocular sebaceous carcinoma

ObjectiveTo examine the clinicopathological features of periocular sebaceous carcinoma and describe the differences in T category between the seventh and eighth editions of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system for eyelid carcinoma in a Canadian population. MethodsThis study is a single-centre retrospective review of consecutive patients diagnosed with periocular sebaceous carcinoma at Vancouver General Hospital over a 24-year period. Medical records and pathological slides were reviewed. Clinicopathological features, management, and outcomes were recorded. Each carcinoma was staged as per both the seventh and eighth editions AJCC staging system for eyelid carcinoma. ResultsForty-five patients (25 women, 20 men) were identified with a median age of 74 years (range 42–91 years). Tumour size was with a median of 4 mm (range 1–30 mm) and a mean of 6.7 mm. Using the seventh edition, patients were assigned the following T categories: Tis = 10, T1 = 9, T2 = 11, T3 = 8, T4 = 0. Under the eighth edition, 18 of 45 patients (40%) were restaged, with the majority of these (15 patients, 33%) being downstaged. The eighth edition categories were as follows: Tis = 10, T1 = 22, T2 = 3, T3 = 0, T4 = 3. Three patients developed disease recurrence, 2 of whom (staged T2c and T4b) died of disease. ConclusionsThere were substantial differences in the seventh and eighth editions of AJCC for the staging of periocular sebaceous carcinoma. Our series had small tumours at presentation with infrequent recurrences or metastases. We found a high number of patients with in-situ-only disease.

External Validation of AJCC Eighth Edition of Non–small-cell Lung Cancer Staging Among African Americans

IntroductionThe American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) eighth staging classification system for non–small-cell lung cancer was based on data from a multinational study consisting of 94,708 patients. African Americans were not included in this large database. Materials and MethodsThe authors aimed to compare the performance of the AJCC eighth staging system with that of the seventh in predicting overall survival among African Americans utilizing the National Cancer Database. Cases with T- and M- categories were classified into 2 groups based on the AJCC seventh and eighth edition staging systems. Kaplan-Meier curves for overall survival were then constructed for each subgroup. Concordance index was computed using Uno’s methodology to assess the overall performance between the 2 staging systems in predicting the mortality. Time-dependent area under the curve was calculated at each follow-up event for the seventh and eighth edition clinical and pathologic staging using an inverse probability of censoring weighted methodology. A 2-sided P-value < .05 was considered to show statistical significance. ResultsThe database identified a total of 70,606 African American patients in the study period of 2004 through 2014. Area under the curve values were consistently higher for the eighth edition scheme compared with the seventh edition (concordance 0.630 vs. 0.624, respectively; P < .0001 for clinical staging scheme and 0.596 vs. 0.591, respectively; P = .01 for pathologic staging scheme). ConclusionThe AJCC eighth edition staging system showed better prognostic value in predicting overall survival when compared with the AJCC seventh edition staging scheme among African American patients with non–small-cell lung cancer.

Positive lymph node number and extranodal extension for predicting recurrence and survival in patients with salivary gland cancer.

This study compared our proposed N classification including the addition of the number of positive lymph node (LN+) and extranodal extension (ENE) with the current and previous American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) N classifications in salivary gland cancer (SGC). This study involved 172 SGC patients who underwent surgery. Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). In multivariate analyses, LN+ number, LN ratio, and ENE were associated with OS and DFS outcomes (all P < .05). Our new N classification proposed three categories: N0 (0 LN+), N1 (1 LN+), and N2 (≥2 LN+ or ENE). The C-index of our N classification showed improvement in OS prediction (0.768) compared with the AJCC seventh (0.743) and eighth (0.756) edition N classifications. Our proposed N classification incorporating LN+ number and ENE may improve prediction of post-treatment survival and recurrence in patients with SGC.

Prognostic validation and therapeutic decision-making of the AJCC eighth pathological prognostic staging for T3N0 breast cancer after mastectomy.

BackgroundT3N0 breast cancer might be a distinct clinical and biological entity, with higher heterogeneity and presenting diverse responses to locoregional and systemic therapy. The aim of the current study was to validate the prognostic effect and assess the treatment decision‐making of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) eighth pathological prognostic staging in T3N0 breast cancer after mastectomy.MethodsWe retrospectively included 2465 patients with stage T3N0 breast cancer who had undergone mastectomy between 2010 and 2014 using the data from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program. The primary endpoint of this study was breast cancer–specific survival (BCSS).ResultsOf the entire cohort, 76.0% of patients in the seventh AJCC staging system were restaged to the eighth AJCC pathological prognostic staging system. A total of 1431 (58.1%) and 1175 (47.7%) of them received chemotherapy and postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT), respectively. Pathological staging was an independent prognostic factor for BCSS. Using pathological prognostic stage IA as the reference, BCSS gradually became worse with increased hazard ratios. The 5‐years BCSS was 96.9%, 95.5%, 91.1%, 85.6%, and 75.5% in pathological prognostic stage IA, IB, IIA, IIB, and IIIA breast cancers, respectively (P < .001). In pathological prognostic stage IA, IB, and IIA breast cancers, the receipt of PMRT or chemotherapy was not correlated with better BCSS. However, PMRT was correlated with better BCSS in pathological prognostic stage IIB disease (P = .006), but not in pathological prognostic IIIA disease. Moreover, chemotherapy was correlated with better BCSS in pathological prognostic stage IIIA disease (P = .006), but not in pathological prognostic stage IIB disease.ConclusionsThe eighth AJCC pathological prognostic staging system provides more risk stratification of T3N0 breast cancers after mastectomy and might affect individualized decision‐making for chemotherapy and PMRT in this patient subset.

Cutaneous melanoma: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up†.

Cutaneous melanoma: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up†.

Stage I HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer: Should all patients receive similar treatments?

Patients with clinical stage I human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer (OPSCC) according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) eighth edition classification comprise a heterogeneous group formerly classified as stage I to stage IVA according to the seventh edition of the AJCC classification. These patients historically were treated with disparate treatment regimens, particularly with respect to the use of concurrent chemotherapy. The National Cancer Data Base was queried for patients with AJCC eighth edition clinical stage I HPV-positive OPSCC (AJCC seventh edition stage T1-2N0-2bM0) who were diagnosed from 2010 to 2014 and underwent definitive radiotherapy. Concurrent chemotherapy with definitive radiotherapy was defined as chemotherapy administered within 7days of the initiation of radiotherapy. The current analysis included 4473 patients with HPV-positive stage I OPSCC with a median follow-up of 36.3months. A total of 3127 patients (69.9%) received concurrent chemotherapy. Concurrent chemotherapy was found to be associated with improved overall survival on multivariable analyses (hazard ratio [HR], 0.782; 95% CI, 0.645-0.948 [P=.012]). The effect of chemotherapy on survival varied based on lymph node involvement (P for interaction = .001). Specifically, chemotherapy was associated with improved survival for patients with lymph node-positive stage I disease (stage III-IVA according to the AJCC seventh edition: HR, 0.682; 95% CI, 0.557-0.835 [P<.001]), but not for patients with N0 disease (stage I-II according to the AJCC seventh edition: HR, 1.646; 95% CI, 1.011-2.681 [P=.05]). Similar results were noted among propensity score-matched cohorts. Treatment with concurrent chemotherapy was associated with improved overall survival for patients with lymph node-positive, but not lymph node-negative, AJCC eighth edition stage I HPV-positive OPSCCundergoing definitive radiotherapy, thereby supporting different treatment paradigms for these patients.

Development and validation of nomograms predicting survival in Chinese patients with triple negative breast cancer

BackgroundTriple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive and heterogeneous disease. Nomograms predicting outcomes of TNBC are needed for risk management.MethodsNomograms were based on an analysis of 296 non-metastatic TNBC patients treated at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital from 2002 to 2014. The end points were disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Predictive accuracy and discriminative ability were evaluated by concordance index (C-index), area under the curve (AUC) and calibration curve, and compared with the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system, PREDICT and CancerMath. Models were subjected to bootstrap internal validation and external validation using independent cohorts of 191 patients from the second Xiangya Hospital and Peking University Shenzhen Hospital between 2007 and 2012.ResultsOn multivariable analysis of training cohort, independent prognostic factors were stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), tumor size, node status, and Ki67 index, which were then selected into the nomograms. The calibration curves for probability of DFS and OS showed optimal agreement between nomogram prediction and actual observation. The C-index of nomograms was significantly higher than that of the seventh and eighth AJCC staging system for predicting DFS (training: 0.743 vs 0.666 (P = 0.003) and 0.664 (P = 0.024); validation: 0.784 vs 0.632 (P = 0.02) and 0.607 (P = 0.002)) and OS (training: 0.791 vs 0.683 (P = 0.004) and 0.677 (P < 0.001); validation: 0.783 vs 0.656 (P = 0.006) and 0.606 (P = 0.001)). Our nomograms had larger AUCs compared with PREDICT and CancerMath. In addition, the nomograms showed good performance in stratifying different risk groups of patients both in the training and validation cohorts.ConclusionWe have developed novel and practical nomograms that can provide individual prediction of DFS and OS for TNBC based on stromal TILs, tumor size, node status, and Ki67 index. Our nomograms may help clinicians in risk consulting and selection of long term survivors.

Recategorization of tumor stage in patients with node-negative oral tongue cancer: Impact of the eighth edition American Joint Committee staging system.

To evaluate recategorization of pT1-3N0 oral tongue cancer, from seventh to eighth editions of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging classification, and impact on overall survival (OS). Using the National Cancer Database, 1277 patients were categorized using tumor size and depth of invasion with seventh and eighth AJCC staging systems and evaluated for OS. Tumor-category was unchanged in 82.9% and upstaged in 17.1% patients with eighth AJCC. The 3-year OS was 85.3%, 76.6%, and 77.0% with seventh AJCC compared to 87.1%, 75.1%, and 81% with eighth AJCC, for patients with pT1N0, pT2N0, and pT3N0 disease, respectively. Improved discrimination of pT1N0 vs pT2N0 for OS on multivariate analysis was seen for eighth AJCC (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03-1.98, P = .03) but not for patients with pT3N0, with seventh AJCC (HR = 1.02, 95% CI:0.53-1.98, P = .95), and eighth AJCC (HR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.52-1.42, P = .55). Eighth edition AJCC staging leads to improved discrimination of OS between pT1N0 and pT2N0 but not for patients with pT3N0.

Impact of American Joint Committee on Cancer Eighth Edition clinical stage and smoking history on oncologic outcomes in human papillomavirus-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the AJCC eighth edition clinical staging system for human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma and to further understand how clinical stage and smoking history affect oncologic outcomes. The purpose of this study was to present the understanding of how clinical stage and smoking history affect oncologic outcomes in human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is critical for selecting patients for treatment deintensification. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression were used to evaluate overall survival (OS), locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS), and distant recurrence-free survival (DRFS). Concordance statistics (C-indices) were used to compare discriminating ability. The OS and DRFS but not LRFS were significantly distributed using the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) seventh and eighth editions criteria. The C-indices for OS, LRFS, and DRFS were 0.57, 0.54, and 0.60, respectively, using the AJCC seventh edition, and 0.63, 0.53, and 0.65, respectively, using the AJCC eighth edition. On multivariate analysis, 1 + pack-year smoking history correlated with OS (hazard ratio [HR] 1.96; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-3.1; P < .01) but not LRFS or DRFS. These results support implementation of the AJCC eighth edition for HPV-associated oropharyngeal SCC. Clinical stage may be more important than smoking history in selection for deintensification.

Application of the Eighth Edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer Staging for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma.

Notable modifications have been made in the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Staging eighth edition staging for pancreatic cancer for the consideration of the irreproducible and inapplicable of the AJCC seventh edition staging. However, the new staging classification has not been systemically verified. A comparison was performed to evaluate the application of the AJCC seventh and eighth staging classifications using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry (18,450 patients) and an institutional series (2040 patients). For the eighth staging classification, patients with tumor diameter of greater than 4 cm (T3N0M0, IIA) had similar prognosis to patients with 1 to 3 positive nodes (T1-3N1M0, IIB). For patients who underwent tumor resection and without lymph node involvement, survival curves of T1 (≤2 cm), T2 (2-4 cm), and T3 (>4 cm) were well separated. Statistical difference in survival analyses was demonstrated in N0 (0 positive node), N1 (1-3 positive nodes), and N2 (≥4 positive nodes) patients underwent tumor resection. The AJCC eighth edition had better stage distribution than the AJCC seventh edition for pancreatic cancer. The eighth edition of AJCC staging is more applicable and accurate than the seventh edition for pancreatic adenocarcinoma.