Strengthening the foundation of kidney cancer treatment and research: revising the AJCC staging system

For decades, the tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) classification system has served as a standard for cancer staging. Developed by the American Joint Commission on Cancer (AJCC) and the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), the TNM staging system has been essential for cancer classification, prognostication, management, data registration, and clinical research. TNM subgroups have been clustered to create a prognostic staging classification system, which portends overall survival (OS) and disease severity. In 2016, the AJCC published the 8^th edition of the AJCC Cancer Staging Manual (8E AJCC) in order to: (I) update staging definitions based on contemporary pathology terminology; (II) clarify tumor histology classifications; (III) present predictive factors in a methodical fashion.