ArticleJournal of thoracic disease2021
Anatomical location and number of metastatic lymph nodes for prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer.
Article in Journal of thoracic disease, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prognostic impacts of skip metastasis in N2a and N2b subgroups of non-small cell lung cancer: insights from a large cohort.Translational lung cancer research · 2025Article
- Curative-Intention Surgery with Lobe-Specific Versus Systematic Lymph Node Dissection in Clinical Stage IA-IB Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Our Experience and Literature Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Prognostic Value of Lymph Node Ratio (LNR) in Patients with Postoperative N2 Feature in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC).Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- True Prevalence of Unforeseen N2 Disease in NSCLC: A Systematic Review + Meta-Analysis.Cancers · 2023Review
- The importance of correct regional lymph node removal as part of surgical treatment of non-small cell lung carcinoma: could it be a therapeutic strategy?Journal of thoracic disease · 2023Article
- Association of metastatic nodal size with survival in non-surgical non-small cell lung cancer patients: Recommendations for clinical N staging.Frontiers in oncology · 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
8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe nodal classification of lung cancer is determined by the anatomical location of metastatic lymph nodes (mLNs). However, prognosis can be heterogeneous at the same nodal stage, and the current classification system requires improvement. Therefore, we investigated the correlation between the number of mLNs and prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
methodsUsing a multicenter database in Japan, we retrospectively reviewed the records of patients who underwent complete resection for lung cancer between 2010 and 2016. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to determine recurrence-free and overall survival. Multivariate analyses were performed using the Cox proportional hazards model.
resultsWe included 1,567 patients in this study. We could show a statistically significant difference in recurrence-free survival between pN2 patients with 1 mLN and pN2 patients with ≥2 mLNs (P=0.016). Patients with a combination of pN1 (≥4 mLNs) plus pN2 (1 mLN) had a poorer prognosis than pN1 patients (1-3 mLNs) (P=0.061) and a better prognosis than pN2 patients (≥2 mLNs) patients (P=0.007). Multivariate analysis showed that the number of mLNs was independently associated with cancer recurrence in patients with pN1 and pN2 disease (P=0.034 and 0.018, respectively).
conclusionsNodal classification that combines anatomical location and the number of mLNs may predict prognosis more accurately than the current classification system. Our study provides the concept that supports the subdivision of nodal classification in the upcoming revision of the tumor, node, and metastasis staging system.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.