TY - JOUR AU - Wang, Wen-Ping AU - He, Song-Lin AU - Yang, Yu-Shang AU - Chen, Long-Qi PY - 2017 TI - Strategies of nodal staging of the TNM system for esophageal cancer JF - Annals of Translational Medicine; Vol 6, No 4 (February 05, 2018): Annals of Translational Medicine (Focus on “Esophageal Cancer”) Y2 - 2017 KW - N2 - The 8 th edition of UICC/AJCC TNM staging for esophageal cancer will start in use since 2018. The nodal staging in this version of TNM system remains unchanged from the 7 th edition that based on the number of lymph nodes (LN) involved, except the limited revision of the regional LN map. In this review, N staging revision was evaluated from its initially simple definition of negative (N0) and positive (N1) LN(s) to the current positive node number based proposal. Meanwhile the disadvantages of current N staging were discussed. The refined nodal staging system in view of the number of metastatic node stations was introduced; as well as the extent and station of metastatic node could better reflect the disease progression and prognosis. The controversy on N staging of esophagogastric junction cancer was also discussed. Other reported N staging associated elements including LN ratio and lymphatic vessel invasion were reviewed and evaluated. UR - https://atm.amegroups.org/article/view/17836