ABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo compare the role of AJCC 6th and 7th TNM staging systems in predicting the long term survival of locally advanced gastric cancer patients after curative surgery. Methods All patients who met the following criteria were included for analyses: treated between January 2002 and December 2004, primary gastric or gastroesophageal cancer, underwent curative gastrectomy ( UICC R0 ) and at least more than D1 lymphadenectomy, pathologically staged as T3-4N0-1 M0, or any T, N2-3M0. Overall survival (OS), disease-free survival ( DFS), locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) were calculated and compared according to N and TNM stage of the two TNM staging systems (T stage were not analyzed due to its extremely unbalanced distribution). The N and TNM stage and other significant variables in univariate analyses were evaluated further for both OS and DFS by Cox regression. ResultsThe median follow-up time was 61 months. The follow-up rate was 92. 3％.Among the 297 enrolled patients, 56. 9％ of the patients had a stage migration between the two staging systems. According to 6th, no difference in DMFS was detected between different N and TNM stages (x2 =6. 65, P =0. 084 ; x2 =6. 61, P =0. 108 ). When using 7th, statistically significant difference was found in DMFS between different N stages ( x2 =9. 035,P =0. 029), and TNM stage also tended to have an influence on DMFS ( x2 =7.27,P =0. 064). The N and TNM stage had similar significant influence on OS, DFS and LRFS based on both staging systems ( x2 =9. 23 - 19. 00,P =0. 000 -0. 026 and x2 =11.67 - 19. 11 ,P =0. 000 -0. 009).In Cox regression, TNM stage was an independent prognostic variable for both OS and DFS based on these two staging systems (x2=9.05-25.51, P=0.000-0.003 ), but the 7thappeared to be a better predictor than the 6 th ( OS : RR =1.6 1 8 vs 1.4 9 6 ; DFS : RR =1.5 9 4 vs 1. 5 6 4 ).ConclusionsThe N and TNM stage in 7th TNM staging system are more predictive for DMFS than in 6th TNM staging system for locally advanced gastric cancer patients. The 7th TNM staging system provides a better prognostic estimation of both OS and DFS.
ABSTRACT
Objective To compare the prognostic value of the 7th edition of AJCC cancer staging system in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients treated with conventional radiotherapy (CRT) and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).Methods From January 2004 to December 2006,totally 1138 NPC patients were treated with CRT (790 patients) and IMRT (348 patients) in Cancer Hospital of Fujian province.The median ages were 47 and 45 years old for two groups ( x2 =1.49,P =0.222 ),respectively.There were 0,41,488,261 and 5,65,176,102 patients in stage Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ,Ⅳ of the two groups after restaged with 7th edition of AJCC cancer staging system,respectively (x2 =64.78,P =0.001 ).The 3-year survival was analyzed according to T-category,N-category and overall stage.Results The follow-up rate at 3 years is 96.0％.The median follow-up were 32 months and 33 months for CRT and IMRT groups.N-category was found to be the prognostic factors for overall survival (OS,x2 =6.50,P =0.038 and x2 =13.60,P =0.004) and metastasis free survival ( MFS,x2 =7.78,P =0.009 and x2 =15.30,P =0.002) for CRT and IMRT groups.The clinical stage was prognostic factor for OS in conventional group ( x2 =6.70,P=0.035),and for MFS in IMRT group (x2 =9.12,P=0.028).Conclusions The T-calegory of 7th AJCC staging system shows poor predictive value for the long-term survival of NPC patients.The N-calegory of 7th AJCC staging system can well estimate the OS and MFS for NPC.