Communication

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On the use and abuse of X in the TNM classification

  1. Frederick L. Greene M.D.1,†,‡,*,
  2. James Brierley M.D.2,
  3. Brian O'Sullivan M.D.2,
  4. Leslie H. Sobin M.D.3,‡,
  5. Christian Wittekind M.D.4

Article first published online: 20 DEC 2004

DOI: 10.1002/cncr.20808

Issue

Cancer

Cancer

Volume 103, Issue 3, pages 647–649, 1 February 2005

Additional Information

How to Cite

Greene, F. L., Brierley, J., O'Sullivan, B., Sobin, L. H. and Wittekind, C. (2005), On the use and abuse of X in the TNM classification. Cancer, 103: 647–649. doi: 10.1002/cncr.20808

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Surgery, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina

  2. 2

    Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

  3. 3

    Department of Hepatic and Gastrointestinal Pathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, DC

  4. 4

    Institute of Pathology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

  1. †

    Fax: (704) 355-5619

  2. ‡

    Frederick L. Green is Chairman of the American Joint Committee on Cancer, and Leslie H. Sobin is Chairman of the International Union Against Cancer TNM Committee.

*Department of Surgery, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC 28232

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 20 JAN 2005
  2. Article first published online: 20 DEC 2004
  3. Manuscript Revised: 14 OCT 2004
  4. Manuscript Accepted: 14 OCT 2004
  5. Manuscript Received: 27 SEP 2004

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One frequent area of uncertainty in assigning proper staging categories is the use of the “X” suffix when assigned to the tumor (T), lymph node (N), or metastasis (M) categories of the TNM classification system. When X is used, patients ordinarily cannot be assigned a stage, e.g., Stage III. The objective of this communication was to clarify the use of X.

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