Getting familiar with the forthcoming eighth edition of TNM classification of lung cancer: from the T to N and M descriptors

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide, and is the leading cause of death from cancer in the United States (1). With the recent advances in screening, diagnosis, and treatment of this disease, guidelines are constantly being reviewed to provide the best in detection and therapy. Currently, the new TNM classification for lung cancer is being proposed by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), and the 8th edition of TNM staging system is expected to be released in 2016. The changes that are expected to occur to the T descriptors in lung cancer staging were presented in the July issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology by Ramón Rami-Porta et al. (2) in “The IASLC lung cancer staging project: proposals for the revisions of the T descriptors in the forthcoming eighth edition of the TNM classification for lung cancer”. The proposed revisions of the N and M descriptors have also been accepted to publish this year in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology (3,4).