International journal of cancer. Journal international du cancer
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This study was aimed to validate the 5th and 6th editions of tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) system for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and attempted to improve prognostic stratification by modifying the 6th edition according to vascular invasion and tumor size. From 1986 to 2002, a total of 5,613 HCC cases from Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in southern Taiwan were enrolled. The 6th edition was modified by dividing stage I into stages IA (single tumor, < or =2cm) and IB (single tumor, >2cm), and by dividing stage II into IIA (multiple tumors, none >5cm) and IIB (tumor with segmental macro vascular invasion). ⋯ This investigation demonstrated better prognostic stratifications for the 6th edition than the 5th edition TNM staging system. Moreover, the modified 6th edition staging system demonstrated better prognostic prediction than the former two. Pretreatment staging and simple classification of current modified 6th edition TNM staging can be applied to all HCC patients and are clinically useful.