Publication of User’s Guide to Essential TNM in PDF format

A new user’s guide from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), published in collaboration with the International Association of Cancer Registries (IACR) and the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), presents a simplified system that enables cancer registries to assign cancer stage at diagnosis. Essential TNM is a complement to the full tumour, node, metastasis (TNM) classification, published by UICC. It is for use by cancer registrars when either the full TNM stage group (I, II, III, or IV) or the TNM staging components (T, N, and M) have not been explicitly recorded in a patient’s records.

User’s Guide to Essential TNM (IARC Technical Publication No. 48) includes flow charts with diagrams and questions to help identify the extent of disease for eight cancer types: breast, cervical, colorectal, liver, oesophageal, ovarian, and prostate cancers and lymphoma.

This user’s guide provides general instructions for abstracting information on extent of disease using Essential TNM. The flow charts facilitate the extraction of data from medical records. Once the T, N, and M components have been coded, they can be combined into stage groups.

Essential TNM is a valuable tool to reduce gaps in cancer staging information, improve cancer registry data, and ultimately provide more accurate data on the burden of cancer to researchers and policy-makers. Stage at diagnosis is particularly relevant in the framework of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Breast Cancer Initiative. User’s Guide to Essential TNM is available for free download in PDF format.

Read User’s Guide to Essential TNM (IARC Technical Publication No. 48) 

Read a study in Lancet Oncology presenting Essential TNM: “Essential TNM: a registry tool to reduce gaps in cancer staging information”