Chest
Volume 111, Issue 6, June 1997, Pages 1718-1723
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Special Reports
Regional Lymph Node Classification for Lung Cancer Staging

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Recommendations for classifying regional lymph node stations for lung cancer staging have been adopted by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and the Union Internationale Contre le Cancer. The objective was to unify the two systems that have been in common use for the past 10 years; that is, the schema advocated by the AJCC, adapted from the work of Tsuguo Naruke, and the schema advocated by the American Thoracic Society and the North American Lung Cancer Study Group. Anatomic landmarks for 14 hilar, intrapulmonary, and mediastinal lymph node stations are designated. This classification provides for consistent, reproducible, lymph node mapping that is compatible with the international staging system for lung cancer. It is applicable for clinical and surgical-pathologic staging.

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Lymph Node Mapping

The recommendations for classifying regional lymph nodes for lung cancer staging are shown in Figure 1 with accompanying definitions in Table 1. This schema was adopted by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and the Prognostic Factors TNM Committee of the Union Internationale Contre le Cancer at the 1996 annual meetings of each of these organizations (see Appendix for participants and organizational representation). The diagram and definitions unify in a single system the features of

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors wish to acknowledge the contribution of Kay E. Hermes to the research and writing of this report.

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    Supported by the Clifton F. Mountain Foundation, including an educational grant from Bristol Meyers Squibb, Oncology Division.

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