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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Apr 1.
Published in final edited form as: JAMA Dermatol. 2016 Apr 1;152(4):419–428. doi: 10.1001/jamadermatol.2015.4994

Table 3.

Summary of the AJCC, UICC, and BWH Tumor (T) Staging Systems

Tumor Staging
System
Definition
AJCC
      T1 Tumor ≤2 cm in greatest dimension, with <2 high-risk factorsa
      T2 Tumor >2 cm in greatest dimension or with ≥2 high-risk factorsa
      T3 Tumor with invasion of orbit, maxilla, mandible, or temporal bones
      T4 Tumor with invasion of other bones or direct perineural invasion of skull base
UICC
      T1 Tumor ≤2 cm in greatest dimension
      T2 Tumor >2 cm in greatest dimension
      T3 Tumor with invasion of deep structures (eg, muscle, cartilage, bone [excluding axial skeleton], orbit)
      T4 Tumor with invasion of axial skeleton or direct perineural invasion of skull base
BWH
      T1 0 high-risk factorsb
      T2a 1 high-risk factor
      T2b 2–3 high-risk factors
      T3 ≥4 high-risk factors or bone invasion

Abbreviations: AJCC, American Joint Committee on Cancer; BWH, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; T, tumor stage from TNM staging system; UICC, International Union Against Cancer.

a

AJCC high-risk factors include >2 mm thickness, Clark level ≥IV, perineural invasion, primary site ear, primary site non-hair-bearing lip, or poorly differentiated histology.

b

BWH high-risk factors include tumor diameter ≥2 cm, poorly differentiated histologic findings, perineural invasion ≥0.1 mm, and tumor invasion beyond fat (excluding bone invasion, which automatically upgrades tumor to BWH T3).

Adapted from Karia et al.6 Used with permission.