ArticleTranslational cancer research2020
Negative lymph node count is an independent prognostic factor for female patients with node positive breast cancer.
Article in Translational cancer research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Association of a high versus low number of negative lymph nodes removed with survival and recurrence-free survival after lymph node dissection in breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.Clinical and experimental medicine · 2025Pooled it
- The effect of the number of negative lymph nodes removed during surgery on the survival and recurrence rates of patients with breast cancer after surgery.BMC surgery · 2026Article
- Competing-risks model for predicting the prognostic value of lymph nodes in medullary thyroid carcinoma.PloS one · 2023Article
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2 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundNegative lymph node (NLN) count has been reported to associate with the prognosis of various cancers. This study aims to reveal the prognostic value of NLN count in breast cancer.
methodsClinical characteristics of patients were collected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. The X-tile program was used to determine the optimal cutoffs for NLN count. Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to assess the risk factors for breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS).
resultsThe X-tile program identified that cutoff value of 2 and 10 could divide the patients into high, middle and low risk subgroups. According to multivariate analysis, patients with NLN count ≤1, over 60 years old, being black, higher tumor grade, higher T or N stage, negative hormone receptor, no radiotherapy or no chemotherapy would more likely suffer poor survival outcome. Subgroup analysis showed that NLN count could still predict survival independently.
conclusionsNLN count is a potentially effective predictor of breast cancer and is a good supplement for N stage and TNM stage. Combining NLN count with other prognostic factors will be a better predictor for the survival of breast cancer patients.
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