Dhanpat Jain, MD, Professor of Pathology and of Medicine (Digestive Diseases), has been named by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) to its editorial board for neuroendocrine tumors of the gastrointestinal tract.
The AJCC, founded in 1959, has developed and compiled cancer staging systems that are considered the staging bible for all cancers, and has experts from every field who specialize in the staging of various cancers. The board is comprised primarily of expert oncologists, oncologic surgeons, radiologists, and pathologists.
Dr. Jain is a nationally and internationally recognized GI pathologist known for his diagnostic, research, and teaching skills. He has more than 150 publications, many book chapters, books and reviews, all of which are largely in the field of GI and liver pathology, and has delivered many lectures and participated in many courses at the national and international level.
Cancer staging is the process of determining how much cancer is in the body and where it is located. The AJCC’s cancer staging references are accepted and used by the medical profession for selecting the most effective treatment, determining prognosis, and continuing evaluation of cancer control measures.
Understanding the stage of the cancer helps doctors to develop a prognosis and design a treatment plan for individual patients. It also helps identify clinical trials that may be appropriate for particular patients.
The AJCC’s staging manual is updated periodically and, currently, the 8th edition is being followed. However, the committee is now working on the 9th edition, which will have substantial changes to not only staging protocols and how these are released for clinical use, but also to the manual’s format.