A comparison between TNM and TANIS stage grouping for predicting prognosis of oral and oropharyngeal cancer.
OBJECTIVE
The 1987 TNM classification system modified some T and N definition but it did not change stage grouping. Consequently it has not improved the prognostic validity of the advanced stage groups. In 1993, a new stage grouping was purposed, TANIS, that seems to have a higher correlation with survival. In this report, the TNM classification and TANIS system were compared to evaluate this prognostic ability.


METHODS
Data from 164 patients affected by primary cancers of oropharynx or oral cavity were analyzed by means of Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analysis.


RESULTS
The crude survival rate at 5 years was 43.9%. Both systems showed a significant correlation with the survival rate by means of Cox regression analysis. TANIS subcategories were correlated to the mortality rate in the stage IV patients. TANIS resulted a better predictor of mortality when compared with TNM.


CONCLUSIONS
The TANIS system was able to separate the TNM stage IV patients into prognostic groups, yielding more information with respect to TNM for such a category of patients. When a comparison between TNM and TANIS was performed, it was observed that TANIS had a higher correlation with survival rate, whereas TNM did not add any information in defining the survival function.
Carinci
F
F
University of Ferrara, Italy.
Pelucchi
S
S
Farina
A
A
Calearo
C
C
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods*; D009959:Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D015996:Survival Rate