An evaluation of the American Joint Committee (pTNM) staging method for cancer of the colon and rectum

This study, using prospective data, compares the survival of 1011 patients who had a colorectal cancer resected at Concord Hospital between 1971 and 1983. The results are expressed both in terms of Australian clinicopathologic (CP) staging and the modified pTNM method proposed by the American Joint Committee for Cancer Staging and End Results reporting. The aim of the study was to determine which of the two staging methods gave the better guide to prognosis. The results indicate that pTNM does not add to information beyond that given by CP staging. We conclude that the pTNM classification is only partially able to separate patients into different survival groups; it is complicated and difficult to memorize, and does not give useful prognostic information beyond that provided by the simpler CP system.