How does the 7th TNM edition fit in gastric cancer management?

The latest revision of TNM staging system, presented in the 7th edition in 2009, supplanted the 6th edition, in use since 2002. In the 7th TNM, gastric cancer is one of the most reassessed solid tumors. Both T and N evaluation, as well as M assessment, have seen major changes, and these changes result in relevant clinical implications for gastric cancer management. Certainly, the prognostic assumptions of this TNM update will be useful for oncologists interested in planning postoperative treatment and in predicting survival. However, many new rules summon the surgeons: they must take account of modern strategies of staging (i.e., laparoscopy and EUS) and treatment (i.e., endoscopic resection, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, intraperitoneal chemotherapy) in order to highlight the prognostic implications of new UICC/AJCC recommendations.