Staging Systems In Patients Research Articles

Convined clinical prognostic model in colorectal cancer.

Current staging systems in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) utilize relatively few patient characteristics in comparison to the breadth of information available. The objective of our study is to analyze the heterogeneous set of variables that may influence mortality and recurrence independently in patients with CCR, and prepare a predictive model of survival and recurrence. Data from 288 patients who had undergone scheduled surgery for stage I-III cancer of the colon and upper rectum were used to construct Cox models for DFS and overall CSS at five years. We have jointly examined clinical variables, serological markers and histological variables with the aim of identifying new prognostic factors. Internal and external validation was carried out on each of the nomograms obtained. Perineural invasion; high platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and the pN stage were the variables that emerged as an independent risk factor of recurrence. The variables related independently to overall CSS were the presence of blood in stools, high PLR and nodal involvement. We have created a predictive model of recurrence and mortality at 5years with data that is easily available (clinical, analytical and histological variables) which can help personalize the treatment and follow-up of patients with CRC. We also conducted an adequate internal and external validation.

Prognostic Performance of Three Lymph Node Staging Systems in Patients After D2 Lymphadenectomy for Gastric Cancer

Background Accurate staging of lymph node (LN) status is essential for predicting prognosis in patients with gastric cancer. Recent proposals suggest that lymph node ratio (LNR) and log odds of metastatic lymph nodes (LODDS) may have superior accuracy in predicting survival by minimizing stage migration. The aim of the present study was to compare the prognostic performances of the UICC (pN), LNR and LODDS staging systems and incorporate the optimal system into a nomogram for predicting individual survival in patients with resectable gastric cancer. Methods The study cohort comprised of 423 patients who had undergone D2 lymphadenectomy. The discriminatory powers of the different LN staging systems were compared using the concordance index (C-index). The optimal system was incorporated into a prognostic nomogram with other independent prognosticators, and bootstrap validation was performed. Results When LN status was assessed as a continuous variable, the LNR system (C-index: 0.712) was superior to pN (C-index: 0.695) and LODDS (C-index: 0.704). Age, LNR, and preoperative serum CA 19-9 and CA 125 were incorporated into a nomogram for predicting 2-year overall survival. Internal validation of the nomogram revealed good predictive abilities, with a bootstrap-corrected concordance index of 0.704. Conclusion Overall, LNR was the optimum predicator of survival in patients with resectable gastric cancer on the basis of LN status. LNR was incorporated into a nomogram along with age and preoperative serum CA 19-9 and CA 125. Internal validation confirmed the predictive ability of this nomogram.

Validation of the prognostic value of the Mayo MASS and R2-ISS staging systems in patients newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma: A single-center study

Objective: To evaluate the prognostic value of Mayo MASS and R2-ISS staging systems in patients newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma (MM) . Methods: A total of 371 patients newly diagnosed with MM in Jiangsu Province Hospital were included in the study. Cytoplasmic light chain immunofluorescence with fluorescence in situ hybridization (cIg-FISH) was performed to detect cytogenetic abnormality. Clinical characteristics were combined to analyze the disease stage and evaluate the prognosis. Results: There were 37 (10.0%), 264 (71.0%), and 70 (18.8%) patients in R-ISS stage Ⅰ, Ⅱ, and Ⅲ, respectively. The median progression-free survival (PFS) times were 37, 25, and 14 months (P<0.001). The median overall survival (OS) times were not reached (NR), 66, and 30 months (P<0.001). There were 71 (19.1%), 140 (37.7%), and 160 (43.2%) patients in Mayo MASS stages Ⅰ, Ⅱ, and Ⅲ, and the median PFS times periods were 43, 27, and 19 months (P<0.001), and the median OS times were NR, NR, 35 months, respectively (P<0.001). There were, 23 (6.2%), 69 (18.6%), 222 (59.8%), and 57 (15.4%) patients in R2-ISS stages Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ, and Ⅳ, respectively. The median PFS times were 47, 31, 25, and 15 months (P=0.001), and the median OS times were NR, NR, 49, and 55 months, respectively (P<0.001) . Conclusion: Based on the R-ISS staging system, Mayo MASS, and R2-ISS prognostic staging system incorporated 1q21+, which allows a better stratification. However, the proportion of stage Ⅲ patients in Mayo MASS and R2-ISS staging systems is relatively high, which is considered related to the high incidence of 1q21+ and ISS Ⅲ in the Chinese population.

Accuracy of models to prognosticate survival after surgery for pancreatic cancer in the era of neoadjuvant therapy.

Outcomes for pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remain difficult to prognosticate. Multiple models attempt to predict survival following the resection of PDAC, but their utility in the neoadjuvant population is unknown. We aimed to assess their accuracy among patients that received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). We performed a multi-institutional retrospective analysis of patients who received NAC and underwent resection of PDAC. Two prognostic systems were evaluated: the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Nomogram (MSKCCPAN) and the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system. Discrimination between predicted and actual disease-specific survival was assessed using the Uno C-statistic and Kaplan-Meier method. Calibration of the MSKCCPAN was assessed using the Brier score. A total of 448 patients were included. There were 232 (51.8%) females, and the mean age was 64.1 years (±9.5). Most had AJCC Stage I or II disease (77.7%). For the MSKCCPAN, the Uno C-statistic at 12-, 24-, and 36-month time points was 0.62, 0.63, and 0.62, respectively. The AJCC system demonstrated similarly mediocre discrimination. The Brier score for the MSKCCPAN was 0.15 at 12 months, 0.26 at 24 months, and 0.30 at 36 months, demonstrating modest calibration. Current survival prediction models and staging systems for patients with PDAC undergoing resection after NAC have limited accuracy.

Prognostic Significance of FDG PET/CT in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma in the Era of the 8th AJCC/UICC Staging System.

IntroductionRecently, the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC)/Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) staging system was updated for its 8th edition. F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) is a useful imaging tool to diagnose and predict prognoses for esophageal cancer. However, there was no previous study to explore the role of FDG PET/CT in the staging system based on the 8th edition. The prognostic value of FDG PET/CT was investigated in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) considering the new 8th AJCC/UICC staging system.MethodsSubjects were 721 patients with esophageal SqCC undergoing pretherapeutic FDG PET/CT. Clinico-pathological variables and the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of the primary tumor were included in survival analysis. Subgroup analysis was performed to compare hazard ratios according to pathological stage and SUVmax. A new staging classification including FDG uptake was proposed.ResultsIn multivariate survival analysis, pathological stage and SUVmax of the primary tumor were selected as independent prognostic factors for overall survival in both the 7th and 8th editions. The proposed new staging system showed better discrimination for overall survival between stage I and II than did the conventional staging system (hazard ratios: 2.250 vs. 1.341).ConclusionsThe FDG uptake of the primary tumor was found to be an independent prognostic factor along with pathological stage based on both 7th and 8th AJCC/UICC staging systems in patients with esophageal SqCC. The suggested new staging system including SUVmax was better for predicting prognoses than the conventional staging system.

Circulating Tumor Cells for the Staging of Patients With Newly Diagnosed Transplant-Eligible Multiple Myeloma.

Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) may show patchy bone marrow (BM) infiltration and extramedullary disease. Notwithstanding, quantification of plasma cells (PCs) continues to be performed in BM since the clinical translation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) remains undefined. CTCs were measured in peripheral blood (PB) of 374 patients with newly diagnosed MM enrolled in the GEM2012MENOS65 and GEM2014MAIN trials. Treatment included bortezomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone induction followed by autologous transplant, consolidation, and maintenance. Next-generation flow cytometry was used to evaluate CTCs in PB at diagnosis and measurable residual disease (MRD) in BM throughout treatment. CTCs were detected in 92% (344 of 374) of patients with newly diagnosed MM. The correlation between the percentages of CTCs and BM PCs was modest. Increasing logarithmic percentages of CTCs were associated with inferior progression-free survival (PFS). A cutoff of 0.01% CTCs showed an independent prognostic value (hazard ratio: 2.02; 95% CI, 1.3 to 3.1; P = .001) in multivariable PFS analysis including the International Staging System, lactate dehydrogenase levels, and cytogenetics. The combination of the four prognostic factors significantly improved risk stratification. Outcomes according to the percentage of CTCs and depth of response to treatment showed that patients with undetectable CTCs had exceptional PFS regardless of complete remission and MRD status. In all other cases with detectable CTCs, only achieving MRD negativity (and not complete remission) demonstrated a statistically significant increase in PFS. Evaluation of CTCs in PB outperformed quantification of BM PCs. The detection of ≥ 0.01% CTCs could be a new risk factor in novel staging systems for patients with transplant-eligible MM.

Comparison of the Seventh and Eighth Edition of American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Staging for Selected and Nonselected Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinomas.

ObjectivesThe eighth edition American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Staging incorporates significant changes to the seventh edition in the staging of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (OPSCC). An important change was the inclusion of OPSCC associated with the human papilloma virus (HPV). Our goal is to compare the performance of both staging systems for patients with HPV-selected and unselected clinical characteristics for OPSCC.MethodsUsing the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, 2004-2016, we identified patients with likely HPV-associated OPSCC based on surrogate markers (white males aged <65 years old with squamous cell carcinomas of the tonsil and base of tongue), excluding those who underwent surgery. We re-classified these patients using seventh and eighth edition staging for HPV-selected OPSCC and compared the prediction performance of both staging editions for overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS). We performed the same analysis for clinically unselected patients with OPSCC.ResultsOur analysis included 9554 patients with a median follow-up of 67 months. Comparing the eighth versus seventh edition for our HPV-selected cohort, clinical staging changed for 92.3% of patients and 10-year OS was 62.2%, 61.2%, 35.3%, and 15.5% for Stage I, II, III, and IV, versus 52.9%, 59.2%, 61.6%, 55.1%, 38.3%, and 15.5% for stage I, II, III, IVA, IVB, and IVC, respectively. A similar pattern was observed for 10-year DSS. The concordance statistics for our HPV-selected cohort were improved for both AJCC 7 (0.6260) and AJCC 8 (0.6846) compared with the unselected cohort, 0.5860 and 0.6457 for AJCC 7 and 8, respectively.ConclusionThe overall performance of discrimination improved from AJCC 7 to AJCC 8 for both clinically selected and unselected patients, but more notably for our HPV-selected cohort. Despite the lack of statistically significant differentiation between Stages I and II in AJCC 8 in either groups, markedly improved discrimination was observed between Stages I/II, III, and IV in the HPV-selected cohort.

Comparison of different lymph node staging systems in patients with positive lymph nodes in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

The evaluation of neck lymph node metastasis is critical for predicting survival after head and neck cancer treatment. However, traditional pathological N staging does not completely correlate with survival; the total number of lymph nodes resected during surgery affects staging, and a minimal number of nodes must be resected to achieve a superior outcome. Thus, the prognostic abilities of various lymph node staging systems for oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC)-positive lymph nodes were compared. Data for 639 patients with OSCC-positive nodes who were treated and monitored at the Changhua Christian Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The different N staging systems were compared to evaluate their disease-free survival (DFS) predictability. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve were as follows: 0.551 for the traditional American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) N staging, 0.60 for lymph node density (LND), 0.596 for log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS), and 0.597 for the number of metastatic lymph nodes (nmLN). The LND, LODDS, and nmLN systems could predict DFS better than AJCC N staging. Multivariable analysis for DFS revealed that extranodal spread, level IV or V positive nodes, and tumor invasion deeper than 13mm were independent prognostic factors in these four models. LND and LODDS predicted DFS better than pathological N staging. LND and LODDS staging predicted DFS better than AJCC N staging for OSCC-positive nodes. In the future, the prognostic ability of AJCC staging may be strengthened by LND or LODDS staging.

Prognostic Predictability of American Joint Committee on Cancer 8th Staging System for Perihilar Cholangiocarcinoma: Limited Improvement Compared with the 7th Staging System

Introduction: This study was conducted to evaluate the prognostic values of the 7th and 8th American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging systems for patients with curative intent resected perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (PHCC).

Prognostic Predictability of American Joint Committee on Cancer 8th Staging System for Perihilar Cholangiocarcinoma: Limited Improvement Compared with the 7th Staging System

PurposeThis study was conducted to evaluate the prognostic values of the 7th and 8th American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging systems for patients with resected perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (PHCC).Materials and MethodsA total of 348 patients who underwent major hepatectomy for PHCC between 2008 and 2015 were identified from a single center. Overall survival (OS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared across stage groups with the log-rank test. The concordance index was used to evaluate the prognostic predictability of the 8th AJCC staging system compared with that of the 7th.ResultsIn the 8th edition, the stratification of each group of T classification improved compared to that in the 7th, as the survival rate of T4 decreased (T2, 31.2%; T3, 13.9%; T4, 15.1%; T1-T2, p=0.260; T2-T3, p=0.001; T3-T4, p=0.996). Both editions showed significant survival differences between each N category, except between N1 and N2 (p=0.063) in 7th edition. Differences of point estimates between the 8th and 7th T and N classification and overall stages were +0.028, +0.006, and +0.039, respectively (T, p=0.005; N, p=0.115; overall stage, p=0.005). In multivariable analysis, posthepatectomy liver failure, T category, N category, distant metastasis, histologic differentiation, intraoperative transfusion, and resection margin status were associated with OS.ConclusionThe prognostic predictability of 8th AJCC staging for PHCC improved slightly, with statistical significance, compared to the 7th edition, but its overall performance is still unsatisfactory.

Comparison of different lymph node staging systems in patients with node-positive cervical squamous cell carcinoma following radical surgery.

Objective: We compared the prognostic accuracy of four lymph node (LN) staging systems - the 2018 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, number of positive lymph node (PLN), metastatic lymph node ratio (LNR), and log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) systems - in patients with node-positive cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) following radical surgery and explored the optimal choice for clinical applications.Materials and methods: Data were retrospectively collected from 928 node-positive CSCC patients who underwent radical surgery between 2006 and 2014 in our center. Tree-based recursive partitioning was applied to split variables (PLN, LNR, and LODDS) into low-risk and high-risk groups. The log-rank test was used to compare survival curves, and Cox regression analysis was performed to identify prognostic factors. The relative discriminative abilities of the different staging systems were assessed using Harrell's concordance index (C index) and the Akaike information criterion (AIC).Results: The mean number of PLNs was 3.8 (range: 1-44 nodes). According to the 2018 FIGO staging system, 831 patients had stage IIIC1, and 97 had stage IIIC2. For the PLN system, 761 patients were included in the low-risk group, and 167 were included in the high-risk group. For the LNR system, 658 patients were included in the low-risk group, and 270 were included in the high-risk group. The low-risk LODDS group included 694 patients, while the high-risk LODDS group included 234 patients. All four staging systems had a significant influence on patients' progression-free survival (PFS, P < 0.001) and overall survival (OS, P < 0.001). Univariate analysis and multivariate Cox analysis adjusted for significant factors indicated that the four staging systems were significant prognostic factors for PFS and OS. Among them, the PLN system was noted to have the best prognostic performance for both PFS (C index: 0.582; AIC: 8213.33) and OS (C index: 0.624; AIC: 8433.80).Conclusion: The PLN system seemed to be the most accurate LN staging method for predicting node-positive CSCC following radical surgery.

A novel risk score to predict survival in advanced heart failure due to cardiac amyloidosis.

Cardiac amyloidosis, caused by deposition of immunoglobulin light chains (AL) or transthyretin (ATTR), carries a poor prognosis. Established risk scores for amyloidosis may not predict outcomes in those patients who develop advanced heart failure and who are potential candidates for heart transplantation. Here, we aimed to identify predictive parameters for patients with severe heart failure due to amyloidosis. Out of > 1000 patients with cardiac amyloidosis (AL or ATTR) admitted to our centre between September 1998 and January 2016, a cohort of 120 patients with a complete cardiac assessment at diagnosis, including right heart catheterization, echocardiography and biomarkers, was analysed retrospectively in this study. Primary endpoint was all-cause mortality. We performed univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis, generated risk scores to predict outcomes in AL and ATTR amyloidosis and compared those to established risk models for amyloidosis. In the Cox multivariate model, high-sensitivity troponin T (hsTnT; hazard ratio (HR) 1.003; confidence interval (CI) 1.001-1.005; p = 0.009) and mean pulmonary artery pressure (HR 1.061; CI 1.024-1.100; p = 0.001) were found to significantly and independently predict outcomes for AL amyloidosis, whereas QRS duration (HR 1.021; CI 1.004-1.039; p = 0.013), hsTnT (HR 1.021; CI 1.006-1.036; p = 0.006) and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (HR 1.0003; CI 1.0001-1.0004; p = 0.002) were the best predictors for ATTR amyloidosis. A simple risk score ("HeiRisk") including these parameters for AL and ATTR allowed a more precise risk stratification in our patient population compared to established risk models. Risk stratification for cardiac amyloidosis with the newly developed "HeiRisk" score may be superior to other staging systems for patients with advanced heart failure due to amyloid cardiomyopathy.

Evaluation of different staging systems and prognostic analysis of 110 primary gastrointestinal diffuse large B cell lymphoma

Objective: To compare the prognostic efficiency of Lugano staging, TNM staging and Musshoff staging systems in patients with primary gastrointestinal diffuse large B-cell lymphoma(PGI-DLBCL) and investigate its clinical features and prognosis. Methods: The clinical data of 110 patients with PGI-DLBCL in Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital from May 2008 to August 2017 was retrospectively analyzed. The stage of lymphoma was assessed following Lugano staging, TNM staging and Musshoff staging systems respectively. The prognostic value was compared mainly according to the situation of 5-year overall survival (OS)and the influence of different clinical features on prognosis of patients was also investigated. Results: The median age of the whole study was 55(range 17-92) years old. With a median follow-up time of 36 (range 1-115) months, the median progression-free survival (PFS) was 35 (range 0-86) months, and the median overall survival was 37 (range 2-104) months. The 5-year OS rate of Lugano stagingⅠ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ and Ⅳ were 77.6%, 73.4%, 69.7%, 12.2% (χ(2)=63.395, P<0.001) respectively. The 5-year OS rate of TNM staging Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ and Ⅳ were 77.6%, 75.9%, 25.0%, 9.3% (χ(2)=65.802, P<0.001) respectively. The 5-year OS rate of Musshoff stagingⅠ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ and Ⅳ were 84.5%, 68.4%, 25.0%, 9.3% (χ(2)=66.966, P<0.001) respectively. By Cox multiple-factors analysis, Lugano staging system was the only independent prognosis risk factor for PFS (HR=4.987, 95%CI: 1.421-17.498, P=0.009) and OS (HR=5.659, 95%CI: 1.563-20.485, P=0.008) of PGI-DLBCL. Univariated analysis revealed that the factors affecting PFS and OS of patients with PG-DLBCL include B-symptom, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS), the number of extranodal lesions, serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), International prognostic index (IPI) score, staging and therapeutic regimen(all P values of PFS and OS<0.05). Patients with PG-DLBCL who received chemotherapy alone showed a better survival than others (PFS P=0.004; OS P<0.001); the factors affecting PFS and OS of patients with PI-DLBCL include β2-microglobulin(β2-MG), serum albumin(ALB) levels, LDH and staging (all P values of PFS and OS<0.05). Therapeutic regimen didn't affect those patients' survival (PFS P=0.661, OS P=0.720). The additional use of Rituximab failed to improve the survival of patients with PG-DLBCL and PI-DLBCL respectively (all P values of PFS and OS>0.05). Conclusions: Compared with TNM staging and Musshoff staging systems, Lugano staging system provides the best prognostic value in PFS and OS for patients with PGI-DLBCL. Accompany with B-sympto, higher ECOG PS score, more extranodal lesions, increased LDH, higher IPI score and later period are negative factors for PG-DLBCL. Increased β2-MG and LDH, lower ALB level and later period are negative factors of PI-DLBCL.

Role of Frailty and Comorbidity in Determination of Operability for Patients With Oral and Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

To review the role of frailty and comorbidities in determining operability and associated outcomes in patients with oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Frailty and comorbidity have been linked to multiple adverse outcome measures including risk of mortality, surgical complications, length of stay, intensity of care needs, discharge disposition, risk of readmission, and cost of healthcare delivery. There are diverse objective and validated measures of comorbidity and frailty. Addition of comorbidity and objective frailty measurements has been demonstrated to improve predictive power of nomograms and clinical staging systems for patients with oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. The use of predictive tools that assess frailty may contribute to shared decision making, realistic expectations, and facilitation of appropriate level of care. While emerging literature supports the role of prehabilitation, there is paucity of data in support of such interventions for patients afflicted by oral and oropharyngeal cancer. Frailty assesses operability beyond anatomic resectability and incorporates key determinants of physical, nutritional, and cognitive well-being. Objective measurements of frailty predict meaningful outcomes following surgery for cancers of the oral cavity and oropharynx. This paper suggests that clinicians should objectively and routinely assess frailty, which may facilitate patient counseling, improved risk stratification, informed decision making, and further research to elucidate relationship of frailty with outcomes in head and neck specific populations.

Comparison of Different Lymph Node Staging Systems in Patients With Resectable Colorectal Cancer.

Background and Objectives: Currently, the United States Joint Commission on Cancer (AJCC) N staging, lymph node positive rate (LNR), and log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) are the main lymph node (LN) staging systems. However, the type of LN staging system that is more accurate in terms of prognostic performance remains controversial. We compared the prognostic accuracy of the three staging systems in patients with CRC and determine the best choice for clinical applications.Methods: From the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, 56,747 patients were identified who were diagnosed with CRC between 2004 and 2013. Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) and Harrell's Consistency Index (c-index) were used to assess the relative discriminative abilities of different LN staging systems.Results: In 56,747 patients, when using classification cut-off values for evaluation, the LNR of Rosenberg et al. showed significantly better predictive power, especially when the number of dissected lymph nodes (NDLN) were insufficient. When analyzed as a continuous variable, the LODDS staging system performed the best and was not affected by the NDLN.Conclusions: We suggest that the LNR of Rosenberg et al. should be introduced into the AJCC system as a supplement when the NDLN is insufficient until the optimal LODDS cut-off values are calculated.

The 7th/8th American Joint Committee on Cancer and the Modified Union for International Cancer Control Staging System for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

PurposeAlthough many staging systems have been proposed for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), there is no globally accepted system due to the extreme heterogeneity of the disease. We aimed to compare the results of the 7th/8th American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and the modified Union for International Cancer Control (mUICC) staging systems in patients with HCC.Materials and MethodsWe collected data from 792 patients who underwent hepatic resection at our center. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to determine disease-free survival and overall survival. To evaluate homogeneity, ‘-2 log likelihood’ was calculated using Cox proportional hazards regression. To measure discriminatory ability, the linear trend chi method and the Cochran-Armitage test for trend were used. The ability to accurately predict survival was verified by cross-validation analysis.ResultsKaplan-Meier curves for disease-free survival and overall survival showed mUICC to be superior to the 7th/8th AJCC. The homogeneity test indicated that mUICC was the best for both disease-free survival and overall survival. In the discriminatory ability test, the chi-square value of mUICC was the best for disease-free survival, while the 7th AJCC had the best value for overall survival. In the cross-validation analysis, all three staging systems had significant predictive power.ConclusionmUICC seemed to be superior to the 7th/8th AJCC after analyzing the data of our surgical patients, although the geographic heterogeneity of HCC might result in differences between the staging systems. We believe that, while the three staging systems allow for the clear stratification of patients into prognostic groups, mUICC may be more appropriate in HCC.

Validation and assessment of discordance of the 8th edition AJCC (American Joint Committee on Cancer) clinical and pathologic staging systems in patients with p16+ oropharyngeal cancer treated with surgery and adjuvant radiation at a single institution

Major updates have been made in the latest (8th) edition of the American Joint Commission on Cancer (AJCC) manual for staging of oropharynx squamous cell cancer (OPSCC)[1, 2] which are based on changes in epidemiology of OPSCC related to the emergence of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) as the major cause for OPSCC.[3, 4] It is now recognized that patients with HPV positive oropharyngeal cancer (HPV+OPSCC) have superior survival compared to patients with HPV negative oropharynx cancer (HPV-OPSCC).[5] One of the key characteristics of patients with HPV+OPSCC is a markedly improved prognosis despite advanced nodal disease when compared to patients with HPV-disease.[3, 6–8] Traditional risk factors predictive of outcome, such as positive margins and extranodal extension (ENE), are not accurate predictors of outcome in HPV+ patients.[9] Previous studies have reported that the AJCC 7th edition staging system has limited ability to differentiate prognosis accurately among stages in the HPV+OPSCC population.[6–8] As a result, a new clinical staging system (International Collaboration on Oropharyngeal cancer Network for Staging, ICON-S) and a new pathological staging system (HPV-Path) were introduced in 2016 specifically for HPV+OPSCC patients. The ICON-S staging system was developed from a study of 1907 HPV+OPSCC patients using an adjusted hazard ratio model that considered age, smoking status and use of cytotoxic chemotherapy.[10] This staging model was created from data of patients treated primarily with chemoradiation. In contrast, the HPV-Path system was created from a multi-institutional dataset of HPV+OPSCC patients treated with surgery, and thus the staging system was based on pathological variables that were not available in the ICON-S study.[11] The parameters of both staging systems have been incorporated into the new 8th edition of the AJCC staging system for OPSCC.[1, 2] The ICON-S system is the new AJCC 8th edition clinical staging system and the HPV-Path system the pathological staging system. A recent report has suggested the two staging systems result in discordant staging[12] The objective of our study was to validate the new clinical and pathological staging systems in an independent cohort of HPV+OPSCC patients who had received surgery as the initial treatment modality. We also determined which staging system was more appropriate for patients treated with surgery and evaluated the degree of discordance between the clinical and pathological staging systems.

Different lymph node staging systems for patients with adenocarcinoma of esophagogastric junction

Objective: In addition to the traditional TNM N staging system, lymph node ratio (LNR) and log odds of metastatic lymph nodes (LODDS) staging methods were developed in cancers. This study aimed to examine their relative prognostic performance in patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (AEG).Patients and methods: Patients who underwent surgical resection for AEG were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program and the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University as the training and validation sets, respectively. The Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC), Harrell’s C statistic, and ROC curves were utilized for comparison.Results: A total of 735 patients were involved in the training set. LODDS and LNR staging systems had better prognostic performance than the TNM N staging systems (when considered as a categorical variable: C index = 0.728 and 0.712 vs 0.671; AIC: 6247.537 and 6265.996 vs 6320.045; AUC: 0.762 and 0.719 vs 0.692. For the continuous model: C index = 0.675 and 0.686 vs 0.658; AIC = 6243.740 and 6261.027 vs 6355.077; AUC = 0.778 and 0.733 vs 0.693). In the validation set of 183 patients, the TNM N staging scheme outperformed the LODDS and LNR staging systems (C index = 0.788 vs 0.779 and 0.767; AIC = 1014.702 vs 1026.899 and 1025.288; AUC = 0.806 vs 0.787 and 0.791) when considered a categorical variable. However, when considered a continuous variable, the LODDS and LNR staging systems were better than the TNM N staging system (C index = 0.724 and 0.733 vs 0.747; AIC = 1018.075 and 1025.803 vs 1026.085; AUC = 0.811 and 0.810 vs 0.806).Conclusions: The LNR and LODDS staging schemes could be considered new options for prognostic prediction of AEG with respect to lymph node status, especially when considered as continuous variables.

Lymph node staging systems in patients with gastric cancer treated with D2 resection plus adjuvant chemotherapy.

Background: The optimal nodal staging scheme for gastric cancer remains unsettled. We compared the prognostic performances of the metastatic lymph node, lymph node ratio, and log odds of metastatic lymph nodes based on nomograms among 801 patients with D2-resected gastric cancer treated with adjuvant chemotherapy.Methods: When assessed as a continuous covariate, each nodal staging variable was incorporated into a prognostic nomogram with other significant prognosticators to predict the 5-year overall survival. The discriminatory abilities of the nomograms were compared using the concordance index. Patients were divided into subgroups using each nomogram, and the prognostic homogeneity of the nomograms was assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method with log-rank tests.Results: The discriminatory abilities of the three nomograms were comparable (P > 0.05 for all pairwise comparisons). However, for patients within each lymph node ratio subgroup, overall survival was homogenous when stratified by subgroups of the other two staging schemes, while it differed significantly among the different lymph node ratio subgroups for patients within some of the other two staging subgroups.Conclusion: The lymph node ratio-based staging scheme performs the best for the prediction of survival in patients with locally advanced gastric cancer treated with D2 resection followed by adjuvant chemotherapy.

Proposal for a New TNM Stage based on the 7th and 8th American Joint Committee on Cancer pTNM Staging Classification for Gastric Cancer.

Background: The 8th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system for gastric cancer incorporated several new changes. We aimed to assess the comparative prognostic values of the 7th and 8th AJCC pTNM staging systems in patients with gastric cancer (GC), and accordingly, to put forward a refined staging classification.Methods: The SEER database was queried to identify GC patients between 2004 and 2009. GC patients from Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC) were used as external validation data. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to analyze cause-specific survival (CSS). The prognostic performance of different staging schemes was assessed using the concordance index (c-index), Akaike's information criterion (AIC), and likelihood ratio χ2 test.Results: In the SEER cohort, stage migration occurred in 8.74% of patients. Survival analysis showed that it was better to treat T4bN0M0 + T4aN2M0 as stage IIIB and T4bN3bM0 as stage IV. Based on this, we established a new staging system which exhibited a superior c-index (0.7501) to the 7th and 8th AJCC staging systems (0.7498 and 0.7500, respectively). The new staging system also outperformed the 7th and 8th AJCC staging systems in terms of AIC and the likelihood ratio χ2 test. The predictive superiority of the new staging system remained valid in the SYSUCC database.Conclusions: We demonstrated that some stage modifications in the 8th AJCC pathologic staging were unnecessary. Therefore we established a new staging system, which was superior to the 7th and 8th staging systems.