Independent Validation of the 2010 American Joint Committee on Cancer TNM Classification for Renal Cell Carcinoma: Results From a Large, Single Institution Cohort

The new 2010 classification remains a robust predictor of cancer specific survival compared to the 2002 classification by dividing pT2 lesions into pT2a and pT2b, reclassifying ipsilateral adrenal involvement as pT4, reclassifying renal vein involvement as pT3a and simplifying nodal involvement as pN0 vs pN1. However, the 2010 TNM classification showed only modest improvement in predictive ability compared to the 2002 classification.