Skip Navigation



Annals of Oncology Advance Access published online on January 29, 2009
Annals of Oncology, doi:10.1093/annonc/mdn707
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
20/5/897    most recent
mdn707v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sun, Z.
Right arrow Articles by Xu, H.-M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Sun, Z.
Right arrow Articles by Xu, H.-M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

The impact of N-ratio in minimizing stage migration phenomenon in gastric cancer patients with insufficient number or level of lymph node retrieved: results from a Chinese mono-institutional study in 2159 patients

Z. Sun{dagger}, G.-L. Zhu{dagger}, C. Lu, P.-T. Guo, B.-J. Huang, K. Li, Y. Xu, De-Ming Li, Z.-N. Wang and H.-M. Xu*

Department of Surgical Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China

* Correspondence to: Dr H.-M. Xu, Department of Surgical Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110001, China. Tel: +86-13998303068; Fax: +86-24-22834060; E-mail: xuhuimian{at}126.com

Background: Previous studies indicate that N-ratio has significant superiority in minimizing ‘stage migration’ for patients with >15 lymph nodes retrieved. Whether the result is applicable to patients with ≤15 lymph nodes retrieved is still in question.

Patients and methods: Overall survival rates of 2159 gastric cancer patients who underwent radical resection were compared between patients with different number and level of lymph nodes retrieved according to pN [International Union Against Cancer (Union Internationale Contre le Cancer)/AJCC N stage], n (JGCA N stage) and rN (N-ratio) staging system.

Results: Patient number was significantly different between insufficient and sufficient number or level retrieved group in pN and n system, respectively, but not in rN system, while overall survival rates were not significantly different between those groups. The 5-year survival rates of patients with insufficient nodes retrieved were significantly lower than those with sufficient nodes retrieved in pN and n system, but not in rN system. The hazard risk for patients with insufficient nodes retrieved was significantly higher than that for patients with sufficient nodes retrieved in pN and n system, but not in rN system.

Conclusion: The rN stage has more potential advantages in minimizing stage migration phenomenon for patients with insufficient number or level of lymph nodes retrieved.

gastric cancer, lymph node metastasis, metastatic lymph node ratio, prognosis, stage migration

{dagger} Sun and Zhu contributed equally to this work.

Received for publication July 22, 2008. Revision received October 9, 2008. Accepted for publication October 10, 2008.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.