The prognosis role of AJCC/UICC 8 ^th edition staging system in gastric cancer, a retrospective analysis

Abstract

Objective: The present study was designed to investigate whether AJCC/UICC 8 ^th edition staging system precisely differentiated patients with different prognosis of gastric cancer (GC). Methods: There were 540 GC cases included in this study. Stratification was done according to the 7 ^th and 8 ^th AJCC/UICC tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging systems. Detailed comparison was conducted between two editions in terms of the sub-classification of pN3 stage, redefinitions of stage III, homogeneity, discrimination power, predictive accuracy, and complexity. Results: Compared to the 7 ^th edition, the 8 ^th TNM staging system performed better by incorporating pN3a and pN3b into the final stage of GC ( P<0.001), had better stage grouping homogeneity ( P<0.001), prognostic value (area under the curve, AUC-value was 0.809), and comparable discrimination power. Conclusions: AJCC 8 ^th TNM staging system showed improved efficiency in GC prognosis.