Proposals for change

Changes proposed

The UICC TNM Prognostic Factors Project is considering proposals for changes to the classification. These proposals should ideally be submitted through the national TNM committees or UICC member organisations.

Submissions should be sent by email directly to the chair of the national TNM committee concerned, with a copy to UICC.

Each proposal should contain the following information:

  • Name of individual submitting the proposal
  • Position
  • Organisation
  • Email, URL, telephone, fax number:
  • Name(s) of the proposing individual(s), group(s), or country(ies)
  • Tumour site and tumour morphology (including ICD-O-3 codes)
  • Description of endpoints used (e.g., mortality, disease recurrence)
  • Years of diagnosis of the patient cohort
  • Description of the cohort (i.e. age profile, gender profile, race/ ethnicity profile if relevant).
  • Description of the referral pattern of patients from the communities to the institution(s) represented in the proposals cohort (e.g. is the institution mostly tertiary care)
  • Description of the selection process for the population under study (inception cohort, convenience sample, random sample, etc.)
  • Description of profile of therapeutic interventions received by the study cohort (e.g. surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, adjuvant therapy, neo-adjuvant therapy)

The TNM classification used (i.e. edition and language version) Description of other essential prognostic factors relevant to the proposal (e.g. PSA for prostate, grade for sarcomas)
 
Proposals will be evaluated using the following criteria:

Rationale

  • Rationale for suggesting the change and the clinical context surrounding the rationale

Analyses

  • Analyses address the stated goal(s) of the study
  • Analyses contrast the predictive ability of the current TNM system to the proposed system
  • Analyses include inferential statistical comparisons of the current system to the proposed system
  • Unconventional statistical methods are described and/or referenced

Study validity

  • Results presented are appropriate to the stated purpose
  • Interpretation of the results is appropriate
  • Limitations of the data are recognized
  • Relationship of this proposal to published literature and current practice patterns is addressed
  • External validation reviewed
  • Internal validation provided
  • Specific recommendations
  • Recommendation for revision of the TNM classification is clear and specific.