Tables and Figures
32
Table 6. AJCC/UICC TNM Staging: The 8th Ed. TNM
TNM
Staging
<55 years Stage I Any T, Any N, M0
Stage II Any T, Any N, M1
≥55 years Stage I T1–T2, N0/NX, M0
Stage II T1–T2, N1, M0 or T3a/T3b, Any N, M0
Stage III T4a, Any N, M0
Stage IVA T4b, Any N, M0
Stage IVB Any T, Any N, M1
AJCC/UICC=American Joint Committee on Cancer/Union for International Cancer Control
a
Categories may be subdivided: (s) solitary tumor and (m) multifocal tumor (the largest tumor
determines the classification).
(cont'd)
Table 7. Major Changes in AJCC/UICC TNM 8th Edition-
Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma, Compared to the
7th edition
1. Age cutoff used for staging was increased from 45 to 55 years at diagnosis.
2. Minimal extrathyroidal extension detected only on histologic examination was
removed from the definition of T3 disease and therefore has no impact on either T
category or overall stage.
3. N1 disease no longer upstages a patient to stage III; if the patient's age is <55 years at
diagnosis, N1 disease is stage I; if age is ≥55 years, N1 disease is stage II.
4. T3a is a new category for tumors >4 cm confined to the thyroid gland.
5. T3b is a new category for tumors of any size demonstrating gross extrathyroidal
extension into strap muscles (sternohyoid, sternothyroid, thyrohyoid or omohyoid
muscles).
6. Level VII lymph nodes, previously classified as lateral neck lymph nodes (N1b), were
reclassified as central neck lymph nodes (N1a).
7. In DTC, the presence of distant metastases in older patients is classified as stage IVB
disease rather than stage IVC disease; distant metastasis in anaplastic thyroid cancer
continues to be classified as stage IVC disease.
