SynthesisClinical and experimental medicine2025
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.
Synthesis in Clinical and experimental medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 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
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- The clinical relevance of LODDS for post-mastectomy radiotherapy in T1-2N1M0 breast cancer: a real-world propensity score-weighted analysis using the SEER database.Gland surgery · 2026Article
- 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
- miR-1911-3p Regulates Malignant Biological Behaviors and Glycolytic Activity of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer via FBLN5.Breast cancer (Dove Medical Press) · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Although most studies have reported that a high number of negative lymph nodes (NLNs) at surgery can be associated with improved overall survival (OS) in patients with breast cancer (BC), the effect size was reported differently in several studies, which may be due to the small sample size of the primary studies. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the association of a high number of NLNs removed during surgery with OS and recurrence-free survival (RFS) in BC patients who are candidates for axillary lymph node dissection. We searched the PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science databases, as well as study references, to identify related articles published from the beginning of 2000 to October 2024. Based on sensitivity analysis, the removal of ≥ 10 NLNs was defined as the high number of NLNs removed group, and the removal of < 10 NLNs was defined as the low number of NLNs removed group. The heterogeneity between studies was assessed using Cochran's Q and I2 tests. Publication bias was assessed using Egger's test. Ultimately, 14 studies encompassing 36,576 BC patients were included. A pooled estimate of 14 studies showed that a high number of NLN removed compared to a low number of NLN removed was significantly associated with improved 5-year OS (HR: 0.82, 95% CI: 0.74, 0.90), I2 = 93.8) and RFS rate (HR:0.76, CI: 0.765, 0.86), I2 = 86.3). A higher number of NLNs removed during surgery in BC patients who are candidates for axillary lymph node dissection appears to be associated with improved OS and RFS.
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.