Evidence map›Paper›PMID 19760316›Full record

ArticleWorld journal of surgery2009

The lymph node ratio is a powerful prognostic factor of node-positive colon cancers undergoing potentially curative surgery.

Gennaro Galizia, Michele Orditura, Francesca Ferraraccio, Paolo Castellano, Margherita Pinto, Anna Zamboli, Sabrina Cecere, Ferdinando De Vita, Carlo Pignatelli, Eva Lieto

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In one paragraph

Article in World journal of surgery, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  10. Prognostic significance of lymph node ratio in patients with Merkel cell carcinoma.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2015
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  15. Postoperative detection of circulating tumor cells predicts tumor recurrence in colorectal cancer patients.Journal of gastrointestinal surgery : official journal of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract · 2013
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  20. Dukes C colorectal cancer: is the metastatic lymph node ratio important?International journal of colorectal disease · 2012
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Gennaro GaliziaDivision of Surgical Oncology, F Magrassi, A Lanzara Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Surgery, Second University of Naples School of Medicine, 80131 Naples, Italy. gennaro.galizia@unina2.it
Michele Orditura
Francesca Ferraraccio
Paolo Castellano
Margherita Pinto
Anna Zamboli
Sabrina Cecere
Ferdinando De Vita
Carlo Pignatelli
Eva Lieto

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe number of harvested (LNs) and metastatic nodes (LNs+) represents the most significant factor to define postoperative treatment and prognosis in colon cancer. However, its assessment may be inadequate causing an incorrect cancer staging. The lymph node ratio (LNR: the ratio between metastatic and resected nodes) has shown prognostic significance in many tumors; however, its role in colon cancer is not clearly elucidated. This study investigated LNR as a prognostic factor in node-positive colon cancers.

methodsA total of 145 consecutive patients with node-positive colon cancer who underwent curative surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy in a single oncologic unit entered this study.

resultsLNR ranged from 0.0416 to 0.9; it was clearly lower in pN1 than pN2 patients, and increased as tumor stage worsened. ROC analysis selected 0.1818 as the best LNR cutoff value. Low LNR patients did significantly better than high LNR patients; this difference was not dependent on the number of LNs and stronger than differences observed by grouping patients according to LNs or LNs+. When stratified by low and high LNR value, pN1 and pN2 patients, as well as stage III subgroups were shown to display substantially different outcomes. LNR was an independent prognostic factor for disease-specific survival, and the only covariate related to disease-free survival.

conclusionsLNR was a robust prognostic indicator for node-positive colon cancers undergoing curative surgery. Because this ratio-based staging was demonstrated to reduce stage migration and to aid in identifying high-risk patients, it should be proposed as a standard tool for colon cancer staging.

Indexed as

AdultAgedAged, 80 and overAntineoplastic AgentsChemotherapy, AdjuvantColonic NeoplasmsFemaleHumansLymph NodesMaleMiddle AgedNeoplasm StagingPrognosisTreatment OutcomeAntineoplastic Agents

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.