Collaborative Staging Algorithm

A joint effort by several organizations to develop standard computerized methods for determining the stage of cancer based on tumor size, extension of the primary tumor, lymph node involvement, and metastases. This algorithm allows one to obtain both the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage and the SEER historic stage. The AJCC stage is used clinically, but its definitions change over time. The definitions of the SEER historic stages have remained constant over time.