Objective: To compare the prognoses of non-small cell lung cancer patients based respectively on the 6th-Edition Staging System for NSCLC (the 6th-Edition Staging System) and the new staging system by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) (new staging system).
Methods: Data were collected from 136 operated NSCLC patients from Sep. 2003 through Oct. 2007. Those data were staged based respectively on the 6th-Edition Staging System and the new staging system. The 2-year no-recurrence survival rate was calculated, and life span was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method of SPSS 13.0 software.
Results: (1) In this series, using the 6th-Edition Staging System, there were 56, 23, 53 and 4 patients in stage I, stage II, stage III and stage IV respectively; using the new staging system, there were 50, 31, 54 and 1 patients in stage I, stage II, stage III and stage IV respectively. There were 6 patients in stage I according to the 6th-Edition Staging System who had become 6 patients in stage II according to the new staging system, 1 patient in stage II 1 in stage III, 3 patients in stage III 3 in stage II, 1 patient in stage III 1 in stage IV, and 4 patients in stage IV 4 in stage III. (2) According to the 6th-Edition Staging System, the 2-year no-recurrence survival rates for Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb,IIIa, IIIb and IV were 95.0%, 83.3%, 100.0%, 63.6%, 52.1%, 80.0% and 50.0% respectively, and according to the new staging system, the 2-year cumulative survival rates for I a, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb and IV were 95.5%, 89.3%, 68.4%, 63.6%, 52.8%, 50.0% and 0.0% respectively. After Chi square analysis, there was no distinguished difference between the 2 staging systems for the 2-year cumulative survival rate. (3) According to the 6th-Edition Staging System, the difference between the no-recurrence rate of stage I and stage II was not statistically significant (P = 0.232), and the difference between the no-recurrence rates of stage II and III was statistically significant(P = 0.023); according to the new staging system, the difference between the no-recurrence rates of stage I and stage II as well as between those of stage II and stage III were both statistically significant (P = 0.023 and 0.014 respectively). (4) The differences between the no-recurrence rates of the patients on the two sides, above and below the tumor maximum diameter cutpoint 2 cm, as well as the cutpoint 5 cm were statistically significant (P = 0.025; P = 0.023).
Conclusion: The new staging system by NSCLC has better staging specificity than the 6th-Edition Staging System and could be used for Chinese patients.