[Significance and contemplation of clinical diagnosis and therapy on the renewal of the eighth edition of gastric cancer TNM staging system].

TNM staging is essential for clinical decision-making and prognostic prediction for patients with gastric cancer. The 7th TNM staging manual was formulated in 2009 and implemented in 2010. However, it was published that there were some deficiencies of the 7th edition of gastric cancer TNM staging system in clinical application process, and this old staging system could not meet the clinical needs. With the cooperation and promotion of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC), the International Union for Cancer Control (UICC) and the International Gastric Cancer Association (IGCA), and through the accumulation and analysis of gastric cancer big data, the 8th TNM staging system was published at the end of 2016. The updated staging system has defined the selection of staging system for esophagogastric junction cancer. It also has divided N3 into N3a and N3b, which has been incorporated into the new staging system, leading to more accurate risk stratification. Moreover, the cTNM staging system and ypTNM staging system have been added in the new staging manual. Overall, the 8th TNM staging system can facilitate more reasonable decision-making, more accurate prognostic prediction and better evaluation of therapeutic strategy. It is of high value to promote diagnostic and therapeutic standard for gastric cancer.