Lymph Node Ratio as an Alternative to the Number of Metastatic Lymph Nodes for the Prediction of Esophageal Carcinoma Patient Survival

Sex differences in survival following surgery for esophageal cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The impact of sex on the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer remains unclear. Evidence supports that sex- based disparities in esophageal cancer survival could be attributed to sex- specific risk exposures, such as age at diagnosis, race, socioeconomic status, smoking, drinking, and histological type. The aim of our study is to investigate the role of sex disparities in survival of patients who underwent surgery for esophageal cancer. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the existing literature in PubMed, EMBASE, and CENTRAL from December 1966 to February 2023, was held. Studies that reported sex-related differences in survival outcomes of patients who underwent esophagectomy for esophageal cancer were identified. A total of 314 studies were included in the quantitative analysis. Statistically significant results derived from 1-year and 2-year overall survival pooled analysis with Relative Risk (RR) 0.93 (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.90-0.97, I2 = 52.00) and 0.90 (95% CI: 0.85-0.95, I2 = 0.00), respectively (RR < 1 = favorable for men). In the postoperative complications analysis, statistically significant results concerned anastomotic leak and heart complications, RR: 1.08 (95% CI: 1.01-1.16) and 0.62 (95% CI: 0.52-0.75), respectively. Subgroup analysis was performed among studies with <200 and > 200 patients, histology types, study continent and publication year. Overall, sex tends to be an independent prognostic factor for esophageal carcinoma. However, unanimous results seem rather obscure when multivariable analysis and subgroup analysis occurred. More prospective studies and gender-specific protocols should be conducted to better understand the modifying role of sex in esophageal cancer prognosis.

The Prognostic Significance of Lymph Node Ratio for Esophageal Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

INTRODUCTION

This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the prognostic significance of positive lymph node ratio (LNR) in patients with esophageal cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The meta-analysis following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. We conducted a systematic search of relevant literature published until April 2022 in PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library. The primary and secondary outcomes were overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS), with corresponding hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). The included studies were subgrouped based on age, study area, adjuvant therapy, sensitivity analysis, and assessment of publication bias. We analyzed and discussed the results.

RESULTS

We included 21 studies with 29 cohorts and 11,849 patients. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale scores of the included studies were no less than six, indicating high research quality. The combined results of HR and 95% CI showed that patients with esophageal cancer with a lower LNR had better OS (HR, 2.58; 95% CI, 2.15-3.11; P < 0.001) and DFS (HR, 3.07; 95% CI, 1.85-5.10; P < 0.001). The subgroup analysis suggested that geographic region, age, and adjuvant therapy affected OS. When any cohort was excluded, no significant changes were observed in the pooled HR of the OS group, indicating reliable and robust results. Egger's and Begg's tests showed no potential publication bias in the studies that used OS as an outcome measurement index, indicating reliable results. Sensitivity analyses and assessments of publication bias (<10) were not performed because of an insufficient number of DFS studies.

CONCLUSION

Patients with a lower positive LNR had a higher survival rate, suggesting that positive LNR may be a promising predictor of EC prognosis in esophageal cancer. After radical resection of esophageal cancer, the ratio of the number of dissected lymph nodes to the number of positive lymph nodes in patients with esophageal cancer should be considered to accurately evaluate the prognosis.

Clinical Significance of the Lymph Node Ratio of the Second Operation to Predict Re-Recurrence in Thyroid Carcinoma

The purpose of this study was to establish the risk factors for re-recurrences and disease-specific mortality (DSM) in recurrent thyroid cancer. Patients with recurrent thyroid cancer who underwent initial thyroid surgery from January 2000 to December 2019 at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital (Seoul, Korea) were assessed. Clinicopathological characteristics and long-term oncologic outcomes were compared between patients with one recurrence (n = 202) and patients with re-recurrences (n = 44). Logistic regression and cox-regression analyses were conducted to determine the risk factors for re-recurrences and DSM, respectively. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to determine the cutoff value for lymph node ratio (LNR) as a predictor of re-recurrences. DSM was significantly higher in the re-recurrence group compared with the single-recurrence group (6.8% vs. 0.5%, p = 0.019). Surgical treatment at the first recurrence significantly lowered the risk of re-recurrences. Age (≥55), male sex, and LNR (≥0.15) were independent significant risk factors for re-recurrences in patients who underwent surgery at the first recurrence. Surgical resection is the optimal treatment for initial thyroid cancer recurrence. LNR at re-operation is more effective in predicting re-recurrence than the absolute number of metastatic LNs.

The Relationship Between Lymph Node Ratio and Survival Benefit With Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Node-positive Esophageal Adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND

We hypothesized that the ratio of positive lymph nodes to total assessed lymph nodes (LNR) is an indicator of cancer burden in esophageal adenocarcinoma and may identify patients who may most benefit from AC.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to discern whether there is a threshold LNR above which AC is associated with a survival benefit in this population.

METHODS

The 2004-2015 National Cancer Database was queried for patients who underwent upfront, complete resection of pT1-4N1-3M0 esophageal adenocarcinoma. The primary outcome, overall survival, was examined using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models employing an interaction term between LNR and AC.

RESULTS

A total of 1733 patients were included: 811 (47%) did not receive AC whereas 922 (53%) did. The median LNR was 20% (interquartile range 9-40). In a multivariable Cox model, the interaction term between LNR and receipt of AC was significant (P = 0.01). A plot of the interaction demonstrated that AC was associated with improved survival beyond a LNR of about 10%-12%. In a sensitivity analysis, the receipt of AC was not associated with improved survival in patients with LNR <12% (hazard ratio 1.02; 95% confidence interval 0.72-1.44) but was associated with improved survival in those with LNR ≥12% (hazard ratio 0.65; 95% confidence interval 0.50-0.79).

CONCLUSIONS

In this study of patients with upfront, complete resection of node-positive esophageal adenocarcinoma, AC was associated with improved survival for LNR ≥12%. LNR may be used as an adjunct in multidisciplinary decision-making about adjuvant therapies in this patient population.

Prognostic impact of tumor length in esophageal Cancer: a systematic review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

In clinical studies, it has been observed that esophageal cancer (EC) patient prognosis can be very different even for those patients with tumors of the same TNM stage. Tumor length has been analysed as a possible independent prognostic factor in many studies, but no unanimous conclusion has been reached. Therefore, this review used a meta-analysis to evaluate the association between tumor length and prognosis in EC patients.

METHODS

A systematic search for relevant articles was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used as effective measures to estimate the correlation between tumor length and prognosis, including overall survival, disease-free survival, progression-free survival, disease-specific survival, and cancer-specific survival. STATA 15.0 software was used to perform the meta-analysis and the data synthesis.

RESULTS

Finally, 41 articles with 28,973 patients were included in our study. The comprehensive statistical results showed that long tumors are an independent prognostic parameter associated with poor overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.30; 95% CI: 1.21-1.40, p < .001) and disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 1.38; 95% CI: 1.18-1.61, p < .001) in EC patients. Subgroup analyses also suggested a significant correlation between long tumors and poor OS. Sensitivity analysis and publication bias evaluation confirmed the reliability and stability of the results. Similar results were obtained in the analyses of progression-free survival (PFS), disease-specific survival (DSS), and cancer-specific survival (CSS).

CONCLUSION

The results of this meta-analysis showed that long tumors were related to poor OS, DFS, PFS, DSS and CSS in EC patients. Tumor length might be an important predictor of prognosis in EC patients, and it can be used as an independent staging index. Further well-designed and large-scale prospective clinical studies are needed to confirm these findings.

The prognostic performance of the log odds of positive lymph nodes in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: A population study of the US SEER database and a Chinese single-institution cohort

Background

The purpose of this study was to assess the prognostic performance of the log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) value compared with the pathological N stage and lymph node ratio (LNR) in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Method

In total 1144 patients diagnosed with ESCC from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database and 930 patients from our validation cohort were eligible. Kaplan–Meier plotter and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were conducted to investigate the prognostic value of the N stage, LNR stage, and LODDS stage. The homogeneity, discriminatory ability, and monotonicity of these variables were evaluated using the linear trend χ² test, likelihood ratio χ² test, Akaike information criterion (AIC), and consistency index (C‐index) to determine the potential superiorities.

Results

The prognostic LODDS cutoff values were determined to be −1.49 and −0.55 (p < 0.001). Univariate analyses showed significant association among the N, LNR, and LODDS stages and overall survival of the patients (all p < 0.001). Multivariate analyses confirmed that the LODDS stage remained an independent prognostic indicator in both the SEER database and our validation cohort. Subgroup analyses identified the ability of LODDS stage to distinguish heterogeneous patients within various groups in both independent databases. Furthermore, the model with the highest C‐index and smallest AIC value was the one incorporating the LODDS stage among the three investigated nodal classifications of both cohorts.

Conclusion

The novel LODDS stage demonstrated better prognostic performance than the traditional N or LNR stages in ESCC patients. It can serve as an auxiliary factor to improve prognostic performance and can be applied to evaluate the lymph node status to increase the precision of staging and evaluation of survival.

The prognostic value of lymph node ratio in patients with surgically resected stage I-III small-cell lung cancer: a propensity score matching analysis of the SEER database

OBJECTIVES

Due to the lack of prospective studies, the role of the lymph node ratio (LNR) in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) remains unknown. This study aimed to assess the prognostic effect of LNR in surgically resected stage I-III SCLC patients.

METHODS

Clinical data of stage I-III (excluding N3 and NX) SCLC patients diagnosed between 1998 and 2016 were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database. Patients were divided into low-risk and high-risk subsets based on the LNR cut-off value of 0.15 using X-tile software. Propensity score matching analysis was employed to reduce bias in baseline characteristics. Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed to determine the overall survival (OS) and lung cancer-specific survival (LCSS). Cox regression analysis was performed to evaluate the effects of multiple variables.

RESULTS

A total of 978 patients were identified, of whom 669 (68.40%) had LNR ≤0.15. Patients with LNR ≤0.15 showed better OS (P < 0.001) and LCSS (P < 0.001) both before and after propensity score matching. Multivariable analyses of the matched population confirmed LNR as an independent prognostic factor. Patients with LNR >0.15 showed poorer OS [hazard ratio (HR) 1.55, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09-2.19; P = 0.015] and LCSS (HR 1.65, 95% CI 1.13-2.43; P = 0.010). Subgroup analyses revealed that LNR ≤0.15 was associated with favourable OS (P = 0.009 and 0.197, respectively) and LCSS (P = 0.010 and 0.169, respectively) in N1 and N2 patients.

CONCLUSIONS

LNR was determined as an independent predictor for surgically resected stage I-III SCLC, indicating that higher LNR is associated with reduced survival. The predictive value of LNR should to be further validated in prospective studies.

Identification of differentially expressed proteins in the locoregional recurrent esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by quantitative proteomics

Background

This study aimed to identify potential biomarkers associated with locoregional recurrence in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) after radical resection.

Methods

We performed a quantitative proteomics analysis using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) with reversed-phase liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (RPLC-MS) to identify differential expression proteins (DEPs) between a locoregional recurrence group and good prognosis group of ESCC after radical esophagectomy. The bioinformatics analysis was performed with ingenuity pathway analysis software (IPA) and Gene Ontology (GO) database using the software of MAS 3.0. Kaplan-Meier (KM) Plotter Online Tool (http://www.kmplot.com) was used to evaluate the relationship between the differential expression of proteins and survival in patients with ESCC.

Results

More than 400 proteins were quantitated of which 27 proteins had upregulated expression and 55 proteins had downregulated expression in the locoregional recurrence group compared to the good prognosis group. These 82 DEPs were associated with biological procession of cancer development including cellular movement, cellular assembly and organization, cellular function and maintenance, cellular growth and proliferation, cell death and survival, DNA replication recombination and repair, and so on. Of these DEPs, SPTAN1 and AGT proteins were identified to be associated with RFS in ESCC. SPTAN1 was positively associated with RFS and AGT was negatively associated with RFS. Expression of SPTAN1 tended to have favorable OS while expression of AGT tended to have poor OS.

Conclusions

Our results demonstrated that quantitative proteomics is an effective discovery tool to identify biomarkers for prognosis prediction in ESCC. However, it needs more studies with large populations of ESCC to validate these potential biomarkers.

[Positive lymph node ratio ≥0.16 is an independent risk factor affecting the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the value of positive lymph node ratio (LNR) in predicting the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer.

METHODS

We retrieved the data of a total of 862 patients with esophageal cancer with complete clinical pathology data archived in SEER database in 2010 to 2015. The best cutoff point of LNR was selected using X-tile software. Univariate and multivariate COX proportional hazard models were used to assess the value of LNR in predicting the prognosis of patients after propensity score matching (PSM).

RESULTS

The best cut-off point of LNR determined using X-tile 3.6.1 software was 0.16. The patients with LNR < 0.16 and those with LNR≥0.16 showed significant differences in the number of positive lymph nodes, pathological type, T stage and M stage. After 1:1 propensity score matching, the two groups showed no significant difference in the clinical data or pathological parameters. Matched univariate and multivariate COX regression analyses showed that LNR, primary tumor site and M staging were all independent risk factors affecting the prognosis of patients, and among them LNR had the most significant predictive value (LNR < 0.16 vs LNR≥0.16: HR=1.827, 95% CI: 1.140-2.929; P=0.000). The median survival time of patients with LNR < 0.16 was 31 months (95%CI: 22.556-39.444 months), as compared with 16 months (95%CI: 12.989-19.011) in patient with LNR≥0.16 (Log Rank χ2=27.392, P < 0.0001). LNR had a better accuracy than N stage for assessing the patients' prognosis with an area under the ROC curve of 0.617 (95%CI: 0.567-0.666), as compared with 0.515 (95%CI: 0.463-0.565) of N stage (z=3.008, P=0.0026).

CONCLUSIONS

LNR≥0.16 is an independent risk factor affecting the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer and has better prognostic value than N stage.

Prognostic factors affecting survival and recurrence in patients with early cervical squamous cell cancer following radical hysterectomy

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate the clinical and histological features affecting the survival of patients with early cervical squamous cell cancer treated with radical hysterectomy.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed clinical and histological data for patients with stage IB-IIA cervical cancer treated by radical hysterectomy at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital from August 2008 to January 2013.

RESULTS

A total of 1435 patients were included in the study. Cox regression analysis identified tumor size >4 cm, lymphovascular space involvement (LVSI), lymph node ratio (LNR), and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag) >2.65 ng/mL as independent prognostic risk factors. Among 1096 patients without high pathological risk factors, the 5-year local recurrence rates for SCC-Ag ≤2.65 and >2.65 ng/mL were 6.6% and 25.7%, respectively. Among 332 patients with lymph node positivity, the overall survival rates for LNR ≤0.19 and >0.19 were 87.8% and 55.6%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

LVSI, tumor size >4 cm, LNR >0.19, and SCC-Ag >2.65 ng/mL may predict a poor prognosis in patients with early cervical squamous cell cancer treated with radical hysterectomy. SCC-Ag >2.65 ng/mL may be a useful prognostic factor guiding the use of postoperative radiotherapy in patients without pathologic risk factors.

The prognostic impact of tumor length in esophageal cancer: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

More and more studies were performed to explore the prognostic role of tumor length in esophageal cancer (EC). However, the results remain controversial. Hence, the aim of the review was to evaluate the association between tumor length and oncologic outcome in EC patients through meta-analysis.

METHODS

A systematic literature search for relevant articles published in English language will be conducted in the PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase. Hazard ratio and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) will be employed as effect measures to estimate the correlation between tumor length and the oncologic outcomes including overall survival, disease-free survival, progression-free survival, relapse-free survival, and cancer-specific survival. We will use the software STATA 14.0 to perform the meta-analysis to calculate the data synthesis.

RESULTS

The review will provide a high-quality synthesis of current evidence of the prognostic role of tumor length in ECs. The results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

CONCLUSION

This will be the first systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the prognostic role of tumor length in EC patients. The results will better predict EC survival and identify higher-risk patients for postoperative therapy.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

This systematic review protocol has been registered in the PROSPERO network (No. CRD42018106851).

Lymph node ratio-based staging system as an alternative to the current TNM staging system to assess outcome in adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction after surgical resection

This study aimed to assess the prognostic value of the hypothetical tumor-N-ratio (rN)-metastasis (TrNM) staging system in adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (AEG). The clinical data of 387 AEG patients who received surgical resection were retrospectively reviewed. The optimal cut-off point of rN was calculated by the best cut-off approach using log-rank test. Kaplan-Meier plots and Cox regressions model were applied for univariate and multivariate survival analyses. A TrNM staging system based on rN was proposed. The discriminating ability of each staging was evaluated by using an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and a −2log likelihood. The prediction accuracy of the model was assessed by using the area under the curve (AUC) and the Harrell's C-index. The number of examined lymph nodes (LNs) was correlated with metastatic LNs (r = 0.322, P < 0.001) but not with rN (r = 0.098, P > 0.05). The optimal cut-points of rN were calculated as 0, 0~0.3, 0.3~0.6, and 0.6~1.0. Univariate analysis revealed that pN and rN classifications significantly influenced patients’ RFS and OS (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis adjusted for significant factors revealed that rN was recognized as an independent risk factor. A larger HR, a smaller −2log likelihood and a larger prediction accuracy were obtained for rN and the modified TrNM staging system. Taken together, our study demonstrates that the proposed N-ratio-based TrNM staging system is more reliable than the TNM staging system in evaluating prognosis of AEG patients after curative resection.

Strategies of nodal staging of the TNM system for esophageal cancer

The 8^th edition of UICC/AJCC TNM staging for esophageal cancer will start in use since 2018. The nodal staging in this version of TNM system remains unchanged from the 7^th edition that based on the number of lymph nodes (LN) involved, except the limited revision of the regional LN map. In this review, N staging revision was evaluated from its initially simple definition of negative (N0) and positive (N1) LN(s) to the current positive node number based proposal. Meanwhile the disadvantages of current N staging were discussed. The refined nodal staging system in view of the number of metastatic node stations was introduced; as well as the extent and station of metastatic node could better reflect the disease progression and prognosis. The controversy on N staging of esophagogastric junction cancer was also discussed. Other reported N staging associated elements including LN ratio and lymphatic vessel invasion were reviewed and evaluated.

Lymph node ratio may predict the benefit of postoperative radiotherapy in node-positive cervical cancer

The standard treatment for node-positive cervical cancer after radical hysterectomy is pelvic radiotherapy and concurrent chemotherapy. Given the potential toxicity of postoperative radiotherapy, we used the lymph node ratio (LNR) to assess the benefit of postoperative radiotherapy in lymph node-positive cervical cancer patients. Data from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results database (1988-2010) were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression proportional hazard analysis. A total of 2,269 eligible patients were identified (median follow-up, 78.0 months); 1,863 (82.1%) patients received postoperative radiotherapy. In both univariate and multivariate analysis multivariate analysis, a higher LNR was significantly associated with a poorer outcome. A LNR > 0.16 was associated with poorer cervical cancer-related survival (CCSS) (hazard Ratio [HR] 1.376, confidence interval [CI] 1.082-1.750; P < 0.001) and overall survival (OS) (HR 1.287, CI 1.056-1.569; P = 0.012). Postoperative radiotherapy was only associated with survival benefits in patients with a LNR > 0.16 (CCSS, P < 0.001; OS, P < 0.001) and not in patients with a LNR ≤ 0.16 (CCSS, P = 0.620; OS, P = 0.167); these trends were not affected by number of removed lymph nodes. A higher LNR is associated with a poorer survival in lymph node-positive cervical cancer. The survival benefits of postoperative radiotherapy appear to be limited to patients with a LNR > 0.16.

Metastatic to negative lymph node ratio demonstrates significant prognostic value in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after esophagectomy

Aims

The prognostic value of metastatic lymph node ratio (LNR) has been reported in some studies; however, there is no report on the prognostic significance of metastatic to negative lymph node ratio (MNLNR) in cancer patients. The aim of this study was to compare the prognostic value of pN, LNR and MNLNR on the survival of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) after esophagectomy.

Methods

The data of 290 patients with ESCC after curative esophagectomy was retrospectively analyzed. The optimal cut-point for LNR and MNLNR were set as 0, 01-0.2, and >0.2. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify prognostic factors for overall survival (OS).

Results

Patients classified as LNR 0, 0.01-0.20, and 0.21-1.0, the observed 5-year OS rates were 46.6%, 26.0%, and 11.6%, respectively (P = 0.000). Patients classified as MNLNR 0, 0.01-0.20, and >0.2, the observed 5-year OS rates were 46.6%, 31.2%, and 7.4%, respectively, respectively (P = 0.000). The pN stage, LNR or MNLNR category was confirmed as a significant independent prognostic factor, respectively (P = 0.032, P = 0.011 and P = 0.003, respectively); However, only the MNLNR category (P = 0.003) remained as a significant prognostic factor when the pN stage, LNR and MNLNR category simultaneously included in the multivariate analysis models.

Conclusions

The MNLNR was recognized as an independent prognostic factor in ESCC patients after curative esophagectomy. In addition, MNLNR showed better prognostic value than pN stage and LNR category.

A nomogram based on phosphorylated AKT1 for predicting locoregional recurrence in patients with oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Background: The AKT signalling pathway controls survival and growth in many malignant tumours. However, the prognostic value of phosphorylated AKT1 (p-AKT1) for locoregional-progression free survival (LPFS) in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has not been established. Our aim was to develop a nomogram to predict local recurrence using p-AKT1 and main clinical characteristics in patients with thoracic ESCC undergoing radical three-field lymph node dissection.

Methods: Immunohistochemistry was performed to examine p-AKT1 expression in 181 thoracic ESCC patients. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate LPFS. Cox regression analysis was also performed to evaluate prognostic factors. A nomogram comprising biological and clinical factors was established to predict LPFS.

Results: The 5-year LPFS rate was 63.9%. Multivariate analysis revealed that expression of p-AKT1 (p<0.001), pathologic N category (p=0.004) and number of lymph nodes retrieved (p=0.001) were independent prognostic factors for LPFS. Increased expression of p-AKT1 was associated with decreased LPFS in patients with ESCC. In addition, a nomogram was established based on all significant independent factors for locoregional recurrence risk. Harrell's c-index for predicting LPFS was 0.78.

Conclusion: Activation of AKT1 was associated with poor locoregional control in ESCC patients. The nomogram, based on p-AKT1 expression and clinically significant parameters, could be used as an accurate stratification model for predicting locoregional recurrence in patients with ESCC after radical resection.

Pathologic lymph node ratio is a predictor of esophageal carcinoma patient survival: a literature-based pooled analysis

The positive lymph node ratio (LNR) has been suggested as a predictor of survival in patients with esophageal carcinoma (EC). However, existed evidences did not completely agree with each other. We sought to examine whether LNR was associated with overall survival (OS). Electronic database was searched for eligible literatures. The primary outcome was the relationship between LNR and OS, which was presented as hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). All statistical analyses were performed using STATA 11.0 software. A total of 18 relevant studies which involved 7,664 cases were included. Patients with an LNR of 0.3 or greater had an increased risk of death compared to those with an LNR of less than 0.3(HR = 2.33; 95% CI 2.03-2.68; P<0.01). Similarly, patients with an LNR greater than 0.5 was also associated with a decreased OS(HR = 1.95; 95% CI 1.52-2.50; P<0.01). No publication bias was found. This meta-analysis confirmed that LNR was a significant predictor of survival in patients with EC and should be considered in prognostication.

Prognostic value of lymph node ratio in stage IIIC epithelial ovarian cancer with node-positive in a SEER population-based study

To assess the prognostic value of the lymph node ratio (LNR) in patients with stage IIIC epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) with node-positive in a Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) population-based study. Data of patients were obtained from the SEER database from 1990 to 2012, and analyzed using Kaplan-Meier survival methods and Cox regression proportional hazard model. The prognostic value of the LNR on cause-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated. A total of 5,926 patients were identified. Univariate analysis showed that the number of removed lymph nodes (RLNs), the number of positive lymph nodes, and the LNR were significantly associated with CSS and OS (P < 0.05 for all). Multivariate analysis indicated that a higher LNR was an independent prognostic factor for poorer CSS (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.896, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.709-2.104, P < 0.001) and OS (HR:1.679, 95% CI: 1.454-1.939, P < 0.001). Among patients with LNR ≤ 0.42 and those with LNR > 0.42, the 5-year CSS was 53.1% and 34.7%, respectively (P < 0.001), and the 5-year OS was 50.4% and 32.0%, respectively (P < 0.001). The prognostic value of the LNR persisted for patients after stratification by the numbers of RLNs, tumor histology, and tumor grade. LNR is a more accurate prognostic method for stage IIIC EOC patients. Patients with a higher LNR are associated with poorer survival in stage IIIC EOC.

Metastatic lymph node ratio demonstrates better prognostic stratification than pN staging in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after esophagectomy

This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic significance of lymph node ratio (LNR) by establishing a hypothetical tumor-ratio-metastasis (TRM) staging system in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The records of 387 ESCC patients receiving curative esophagectomy were retrospectively investigated. The optimal cut-point for LNR was assessed via the best cut-off approach. Potential prognostic parameters were identified through univariate and multivariate analyses. A novel LNR-based TRM stage was proposed. The prognostic discriminatory ability and prediction accuracy of each system were determined using hazard ratio (HR), Akaike information criterion (AIC), concordance index (C-index), and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). The optimal cut-points of LNR were set at 0, 0~0.2, 0.2~0.4, and 0.4~1.0. Multivariate Cox analysis indicated that the LNR category was an independent risk factor of overall survival (P < 0.001). The calibration curves for the probability of 3- and 5-year survival showed good consistency between nomogram prediction and actual observation. The LNR category and TRM stage yielded a larger HR, a smaller AIC, a larger C-index, and a larger AUC than the N category and TNM stage did. In summary, the proposed LNR category was superior to the conventional N category in predicting the prognosis of ESCC patients.

FDG-PET/CT lymph node staging after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophageal-gastric junction

Objectives

The aim of the analysis was to assess the accuracy of various FDG-PET/CT parameters in staging lymph nodes after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Methods

In this prospective study, 74 patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophageal–gastric junction were examined by FDG-PET/CT in the course of their neoadjuvant chemotherapy given before surgical treatment. Data from the final FDG-PET/CT examinations were compared with the histology from the surgical specimens (gold standard). The accuracy was calculated for four FDG-PET/CT parameters: (1) hypermetabolic nodes, (2) large nodes, (3) large-and-medium large nodes, and (4) hypermetabolic or large nodes.

Results

In 74 patients, a total of 1540 lymph nodes were obtained by surgery, and these were grouped into 287 regions according to topographic origin. Five hundred and two nodes were imaged by FDG-PET/CT and were grouped into these same regions for comparison. In the analysis, (1) hypermetabolic nodes, (2) large nodes, (3) large-and-medium large nodes, and (4) hypermetabolic or large nodes identified metastases in particular regions with sensitivities of 11.6%, 2.9%, 21.7%, and 13.0%, respectively; specificity was 98.6%, 94.5%, 74.8%, and 93.6%, respectively. The best accuracy of 77.7% reached the parameter of hypermetabolic nodes. Accuracy decreased to 62.0% when also smaller nodes (medium-large) were taken for the parameter of metastases.

Conclusions

FDG-PET/CT proved low sensitivity and high specificity. Low sensitivity was based on low detection rate (32.6%) when compared nodes imaged by FDG-PET/CT to nodes found by surgery, and in inability to detect micrometastases. Sensitivity increased when also medium-large LNs were taken for positive, but specificity and accuracy decreased.

Assessment of Lymph Node Ratio to Replace the pN Categories System of Classification of the TNM System in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

INTRODUCTION

The seventh edition of the TNM staging system for esophageal cancer outlined by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) defines the N classification on the basis of the number of metastatic lymph nodes. However, this classification is dependent on the actual number of examined lymph nodes. Here in this study, we have focused on revising this N classification system with the metastatic lymph nodes ratio (LNR) and also assessing whether this modification to the current AJCC staging system can better define the prognostic characteristics of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed 916 patients with ESCC who underwent curative resection. Prognostic performance of two staging systems was compared using the Akaike information criterion value and receiver operating characteristics curve. In addition, decision curve analysis evaluated the clinical practical usefulness of the prediction models by quantifying their net benefits.

RESULTS

The univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses indicated that LNR was an independent risk factor for overall survival. The modified staging system based on LNR had better discriminatory ability, monotonicity, homogeneity, and stratification than the TNM staging system in determining the prognosis of patients with ESCC. However, the decision curves analysis suggested that the modified staging based on LNR has poor clinical practical value over the AJCC TNM staging system.

CONCLUSIONS

LNR can supplement the pN categorization system for more effective evaluation of prognosis. But the modified staging system based on LNR has a poor clinical practical value for patients with ESCC compared with the current TNM system and is not superior to AJCC pN staging for ESCC.

Prognostic value of lymph node ratio in patients with small-cell carcinoma of the cervix based on data from a large national registry

Objective

To investigate the prognostic value of the lymph node ratio (LNR) in patients with small-cell carcinoma of the cervix (SCCC) after cancer-directed surgery using a population-based national registry (Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results [SEER]).

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed the data of SCCC patients in the SEER database from 1980 to 2012. The prognostic impact of LNR with respect to cause-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) was analyzed.

Results

A total of 118 patients with SCCC were identified. The median follow-up was 30.5 months. All these patients were treated with cancer-directed surgery and lymphadenectomy. Sixty (50.8%) patients had nodal metastases. The median LNR was 0.16 in patients with positive lymph nodes. Univariate analysis showed that prognostic factors such as International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, nodal status, LNR, and local treatment modalities affected CSS and OS (P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that LNR was an independent prognostic factor for CSS and OS. Patients with a higher LNR had worse CSS (hazard ratio [HR]: 8.832; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.762–20.738; P<0.001) and OS (HR: 8.462; 95% CI: 3.613–19.821; P<0.001). LNR was associated with CSS and OS by stage, especially in FIGO stage I–II patients.

Conclusion

LNR is an independent prognostic factor in SCCC patients and it may help to individualize adjuvant therapy.