[Evaluation of therapeutic success in cancer (author's transl)]

The development of generally valid rules for the treatment of cancer obviously requires the comparison of different forms of treatment and their results. The basis for these comparisons is a reliably reproducible and sufficiently detailed internationally applicable classification scheme for the characterization of tumors affecting different organs and their extent on the basis of objective findings. The TNM system proposed by UICC is the only one answering all these demands. It ought to become universally accepted and be the only system used.