title: Clinical applicability of staging small cell lung cancer according to the seventh edition of the TNM staging system.
abstract: The two-stage system of limited and extensive disease has been widely employed for small cell lung cancer (SCLC). However, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer has proposed that the TNM classification should be incorporated into clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the applicability of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) 7th TNM staging system to SCLC. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of consecutive patients with newly diagnosed histologically proven SCLC between March 2005 and January 2010. Patients who had other concurrent malignancies or had combined-type SCLC were excluded. We assessed overall survival (OS) according to the T descriptor, N descriptor, M descriptor, and TNM stage grouping. In total, 320 SCLC patients were included. Median age was 65 years and 286 patients (89.4%) were male. Median OS was 12.7 months. There were no significant differences in OS according to the T descriptor (P = 0.880). However, there were significant differences in OS according to the N (P < 0.001) and M (P < 0.001) descriptors and TNM stage grouping (P < 0.001). Hazard ratios for OS, adjusted for known prognostic factors, differed significantly according to the N and M descriptor, and TNM stage grouping, but not according to the T descriptors. The UICC 7th TNM staging system may contribute to a more precise prognosis in SCLC patients. Further studies are required to evaluate the applicability of the TNM staging system to SCLC.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Byung Woo
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Jhun
authors.forename: Kyung-Jong
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kyeongman
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: Gee Young
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.forename: Man Pyo
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Hojoong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: O Jung
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Jong-Mu
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Jin Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Myung-Ju
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Keunchil
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Joon Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Kyung Soo
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Joungho
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Sang-Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Um
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055752:Small Cell Lung Carcinoma / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18