Staging of prostate cancer. Current TNM classification and future prospects for prognostic factors

In 1992, the American Joint Committee on Cancer, in collaboration with the International Union Against Cancer, published a revision of the TNM (tumor, node, metastasis) staging system for prostate cancer. One goal of this revision was to provide congruence of this system with the classical Whitmore staging classification. A second goal was to accommodate the frequently encountered clinical situation of a cancer detected because of a PSA abnormality with a normal digital rectal exam and imaging. These revisions of the staging system have been accepted well internationally. Ideally, improved communication among prostate cancer researchers and clinicians about the anatomic extent of a prostate cancer will be possible. Cancer 1995;75:1814–8.