Critical Updates and Clinical Significance of the 8th Edition of AJCC Breast Cancer Prognostic Staging System

The in-depth study of tumors and the evolution of gene detection techniques in the level of clinical application have promoted the comprehensive treatment of tumors from the age of refining anatomic staging, and precisely evaluating anatomic tumor burden, to the age of analyzing the biological feature, and developing target medicine. The panel of the American Joint Committee on Cancer(AJCC), for the first time, in the 8th edition of breast cancer staging system, built the prognostic staging system based on estrogen receptor(ER), progesterone receptor(PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor-2(HER-2), histologic grade(G), and multi-gene expression panels. The principle that the prognostic staging system is more recommended will be a revo-lution in the history of the war between human and cancer. The evolution of cancer staging system from anatomic level to micropathologic and multigenetic level shows that the cancer treatment has stepped into classification-based treatment from population-based treatment. This evolution will promote the arrival of personalized treatment.