ReviewWorld journal of gastroenterology2014
Colorectal cancer and lymph nodes: the obsession with the number 12.
Review in World journal of gastroenterology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 53 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Prognostic Significance of Lymph Node Ratio in Rectal Cancer on Overall Survival: An Alternative Not a Substitute
Predictors of Disease Free Survival After Curative Cancer Rectum Surgery
Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the use of methylene blue to improve the lymph node harvest in rectal cancer surgery.Techniques in coloproctology · 2023Pooled it
- Natural orifice versus transabdominal specimen extraction in laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer: meta-analysis.BJS open · 2022Pooled it
- Laparoscopic colorectal cancer resections in the obese: a systematic review.Surgical endoscopy · 2017Pooled it
- Practice parameters for early colon cancer management: Italian Society of Colorectal Surgery (Società Italiana di Chirurgia Colo-Rettale; SICCR) guidelines.Techniques in coloproctology · 2015Guideline
- Nonlinear association between number of lymph nodes resected and survival in T1N0M0 colorectal cancer: a SEER-based analysis.Updates in surgery · 2026Article
- Predictors of survival for locally advanced rectal cancer patients with poor response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.Radiation oncology (London, England) · 2026Article
- Article
- Lymph node yield as a surrogate marker for tumour biology and prognosis in colon cancer.British journal of cancer · 2025Article
- Lymph node yield does not affect the cancer-specific survival of patients with T1 colorectal cancer: a population-based retrospective study of the U.S. database and a Chinese registry.International journal of colorectal disease · 2025Article
- Prognostic value of metastatic lymph node ratio and its effect on disease-free survival in colon cancer.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
- Colorectal lymph node harvest in cancer surgery, adequacy and treatment implication: a 5-year retrospective analysis from a tertiary hospital in Ethiopia.Frontiers in gastroenterology (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Impact of lymph node retrieval on prognosis in elderly and non-elderly patients with T3-4/N+ rectal cancer following neoadjuvant therapy: a retrospective cohort study.International journal of colorectal disease · 2024Article
- Effect of centre volume on pathological outcomes and postoperative complications after surgery for colorectal cancer: results of a multicentre national study.The British journal of surgery · 2024Article
- Exploring the effect of carbon nanoparticle tracing technique on five-year overall survival and disease-free survival in patients undergoing radical surgery for colorectal cancer: a retrospective study.Frontiers in oncology · 2024Article
- Feasibility of indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence inPathology oncology research : POR · 2024Article
- Size and number of lymph nodes were risk factors of recurrence in stage II colorectal cancer.BMC cancer · 2023Article
- New staging systems for left-sided colon cancer based on the number of retrieved and metastatic lymph nodes provide a more accurate prognosis.Pathology oncology research : POR · 2023Article
- Nomograms predicting cancer-specific survival for stage IV colorectal cancer with synchronous lung metastases.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Pattern of recurrence and survival after D2 right colectomy for cancer: is there place for a routine more extended lymphadenectomy?Updates in surgery · 2022Article
- Change point analysis validation of the learning curve in laparoscopic colorectal surgery: Experience from a non-structured training setting.World journal of gastrointestinal endoscopy · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Lymphadenectomy of colorectal cancer is a decisive factor for the prognostic and therapeutic staging of the patient. For over 15 years, we have asked ourselves if the minimum number of 12 examined lymph nodes (LNs) was sufficient for the prevention of understaging. The debate is certainly still open if we consider that a limit of 12 LNs is still not the gold standard mainly because the research methodology of the first studies has been criticized. Moreover many authors report that to date both in the United States and Europe the number "12" target is uncommon, not adequate, or accessible only in highly specialised centres. It should however be noted that both the pressing nature of the debate and the dissemination of guidelines have been responsible for a trend that has allowed for a general increase in the number of LNs examined. There are different variables that can affect the retrieval of LNs. Some, like the surgeon, the surgery, and the pathology exam, are without question modifiable; however, other both patient and disease-related variables are non-modifiable and pose the question of whether the minimum number of examined LNs must be individually assigned. The lymph nodal ratio, the sentinel LNs and the study of the biological aspects of the tumor could find valid application in this field in the near future.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.