The IASLC/ITMIG thymic malignancies staging project: development of a stage classification for thymic malignancies
Frank C Detterbeck1, Hisao Asamura, John Crowley
1*Department of Thoracic Surgery, Yale New Haven Hospital, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut; †Thoracic Surgery, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan; ‡Biostatistics, Cancer Research And Biostatistics, Seattle, Washington; §Radiation Oncology, Queen's University, Ontario, Canada; ‖Medical Oncology, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland; ¶Thoracic Surgery, Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York; #Thoracic Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea; **Thoracic Surgery, University of Tokushima, Tokushima, Japan; ††Thoracic Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy; ‡‡Pathology, Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy; §§Radiology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas; ‖‖Pathology, Royal Brompton Hospital, London, United Kingdom; ¶¶Thoracic Surgery, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan; ##Thoracic Surgery, University of Torino, Torino, Italy; ***Thoracic Surgery, Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium; ††† Members of the Staging and Prognostic Factors Committee are listed in the Appendix 1; ‡‡‡ Members of the Advisory Boards are listed in the Appendices 2, 3, and 4; and §§§ Members of the Participating Institutions of the Thymic Domain are listed in the Appendix 5.
Abstract:
The lack of an official-stage classification system for thymic malignancies is an issue that hampers progress in this rare disease. A collaborative effort by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer and the International Thymic Malignancies Interest Group is underway to develop proposals for such a system. A database of more than 10,000 cases worldwide has been assembled to provide a solid basis for analysis. This report outlines the structure of the effort and the process that has been designed.
