The 7th Edition of the TNM Classification for Lung Cancer: Proposals from the IASLC Staging Project

The purpose of this presentation is three-fold: (a) to inform the lung cancer community of the proposals submitted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) to the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) and the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) for the Lung Cancer section of the forthcoming (7th) Edition of the TNM Classification of Malignant Tumours, (b) to stimulate discussion within the lung cancer community ahead of these revisions being enacted, and (c) to describe to the wider oncological community the IASLC Lung Cancer Staging Project in the hope that it might provide a useful template by which revisions to the TNM Classification for other tumours could be better informed. This last issue will entail a description of the development of TNM staging in lung cancer, which, inevitably will be somewhat critical of the pre-existing process for revision. The UICC has sought to improve this and the previous speaker will address their process for change initiative. However, the relevant specialist associations and National groups can help to inform such revisions by stimulating collaborative, international efforts for data collection.