A comparison of staging systems for nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Abstract

The fifth edition of the AJCC staging manual appears to be an improvement over the previous AJCC or Ho staging systems for the staging of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Prognostic Factors and Significance of the Revised 6th Edition of the AJCC Classification in Patients with Locally Advanced Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

“…By contrast, none of the above factors has been found to be an independent prognostic factor for OS in multivariate analysis. These findings are in accordance with those reported by others [9,14,15,35]. To different degrees, the parapharyngeal space was the most commonly infiltrated region, which has also been documented in other series, due to the little resistance that opening of the sinus of Morgani offers [4,36].…”

Treatment Outcomes After Radiotherapy Alone for Patients With Early-Stage Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

“…In the present study, the 5-year OS rate of the early-stage patients receiving two-dimensional RT alone was 85% and was 95% and 83% for those with Stage I and II, respectively, similar to that of other reports (Table 5) (1)(2)(3)(4)11). Compared with the clinical results in the 1990s (12)(13)(14)(15), OS has increased tremendously. The main reasons for this include the development of imaging technology, application of high-dose-rate intracavitary brachytherapy, and better quality assurance and quality control.…”

Re-Evaluation of 6th Edition of AJCC Staging System for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma and Proposed Improvement Based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging

“…The superiority of the current 6th edition of the UICC/ AJCC staging system over previous systems has been consistently confirmed by successive evaluations (3)(4)(5)(6)(7). Our data have confirmed it to be, for the most part, an acceptable system.…”

“…The 5th edition of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC)/ American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system (1,2), which amalgamated both Western and Eastern experiences, was an even more vigorous attempt toward universal unification. Successive evaluations of the system have consistently confirmed its superiority over the previous system, in terms of improved prognostication and a more balanced distribution among the stages (3)(4)(5)(6)(7). Hence, no additional changes (except for the addition of the term ''masticator space'' as a synonym for infratemporal fossa) were introduced to the most recent UICC/AJCC 6th edition (8).…”