Clinicopathological Factors and Staging in Gastrointestinal Cancers

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers are among the most common types of malignant tumor. Presently, GI cancers are staged according to a system designed by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) that defines the prognosis in a clear manner and is thus used for clinical treatment decisions. The AJCC staging system differentiates patients on the basis of the invasion extent of primary tumor (T-stage), lymph node status (N-stage), and distant spread (M-stage). However, the TNM staging system is not perfect for the prognosis prediction and clinical management of GI cancers. The AJCC has once issued a request for proposals to develop staging methods based on other available information beyond the classical TNM staging.

Although several modifications in the past years have improved its predictive ability, the AJCC staging system is not perfect for the prognosis prediction. In addition to the invasion extent of primary tumor, lymph node status, and distant spread, many clinicopathological factors have been shown to impact on the prognosis of GI cancers, such as microenvironmental markers, treatment effect, gene mutations and circulating biomarkers. Therefore, this research topic focuses on the staging and prognosis prediction of different clinicopathological factors in GI cancers.

We welcome original research articles, short communications, and review articles covering, but not limited to, the following topics:
• The refinement of GI cancer staging system
• Prognostic predictionbased on GI cancer staging
• Survival analyses of clinicopathological factors in GI cancers
• Treatment choices in GI cancers.