Revisions to the Tumor, Node, Metastasis staging of lung cancer (8(th) edition): Rationale, radiologic findings and clinical implications

The Tumor, Node, Metastasis (TNM) staging system, adopted by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC), has been recently revised, with the new 8(th) edition of the staging manual being published in January 2017. This edition has few but important evidence-based changes to the TNM staging system used for lung cancer. Radiologists should be aware of the updated classification system to accurately provide staging information to oncologists and oncosurgeons. In this article, we discuss the rationale, illustrate the changes with relevance to Radiology, and review the clinical implications of the 8(th) edition of the UICC/AJCC TNM staging system with regards to lung cancer.