Comparison between the General Rules for the Gastric Cancer Study in Japan and the New TNM Classification of Stomach Cancer by the UICC

Shigeo Okamura, Nobuyasu Imabayashi, Yasushi Nakane, Tokio Okusa, Tunehide Boku, Noburo Hirozane, Satoshi Kasamatsu, Keiji Akihira, Kanji Tanaka, Koshiro Hioki, Masakatsu Yamamoto

Department of Surgery, Kansai Medical University

In this study we compared the general rules for the gastric cancer study in Japan with the new TNM staging of stomach cancer by UICC. Even though there are some delicate differences between the two rules, that have many similarities and it seemed rather easy to translate the former into the latter. Both of them seemed to be very useful for predicting the prognosis of gastric carcinoma. However, the new TNM staging does not include the evaluation of the factor of serosal invasion of cancer and some problems still remained to be solved. The new TNM staging is based on the survival rate which might be improved by the progress in treatment. The stage 4 cases according to the Japanese classification include many different prognostic groups and it seems necessary to divide tham into subgroups, which is still controversial. The new TNM staging takes this point into consideration and is thought to be better organized than the Japanese classification.

Key words
survival rate of gastric cancer, the new TNM staging classification, the general rules for the gastric cancer study

Reprint requests
Shigeo Oakamura Department of Surgery, Kansai Medical University
1 Fumizono-cho, Moriguchi, 570 JAPAN

Accepted
March 7, 1990

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