American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) tumor node metastasis (TNM) staging system for renal cell carcinoma.
AJCC TNM Staging System of Renal Cell Carcinoma(From Edge SB, Byrd DR, Compton CC, et al. AJCC Cancer Staging Manual. New York: Springer; 2010.)
| TX | Primary tumor cannot be assessed | ||
| T0 | No evidence of primary tumor | ||
| T1 | Tumor 7 cm or less in greatest dimension, limited to the kidney | ||
| T1a | Tumor 4 cm or less in greatest dimension, limited to the kidney | ||
| T1b | Tumor more than 4 cm but not more than 7 cm in greatest dimension, limited to the kidney | ||
| T2 | Tumor more than 7 cm in greatest dimension, limited to the kidney | ||
| T2a | Tumor more than 7 cm but less than or equal to 10 cm in greatest dimension, limited to the kidney | ||
| T2b | Tumor more than 10 cm in greatest dimension, limited to the kidney | ||
| T3 | Tumor extends into major veins or perinephric tissues but not into the ipsilateral adrenal gland and not beyond Gerota’s fascia | ||
| T3a | Tumor grossly extends into the renal vein or its segmental (muscle-containing) branches, or tumor invades perirenal and/or renal sinus fat but not beyond the Gerota fascia | ||
| T3b | Tumor grossly extends into the vena cava below the diaphragm | ||
| T3c | Tumor grossly extends into the vena cava above the diaphragm or invades the wall of the vena cava | ||
| T4 | Tumor invades beyond Gerota’s fascia (including contiguous extension into the ipsilateral adrenal gland) | ||
| Regional lymph node (N) | |||
| NX | Regional lymph nodes cannot be assessed | ||
| N0 | No regional lymph node metastasis | ||
| N1 | Metastasis in regional lymph node(s) | ||
| Distant metastasis (M) | |||
| M0 | No distant metastasis | ||
| M1 | Distant metastasis | ||
| Anatomic stage/prognostic groups | |||
| Stage | T | N | M |
| I | T1 | N0 | M0 |
| II | T2 | N0 | M0 |
| III | T1-2 | N1 | M0 |
| T3 | N0-1 | M0 | |
| IV | T4 | Any N | M0 |
| Any T | Any N | M1 |
Note : Any T3 or N1 lesion is at least stage III, and any T4 or M1 lesion is stage IV.
