Ratios of involved nodes in early breast cancer

Lymph node ratio emerges as a pivotal prognostic determinant for cancer-specific survival amidst individuals diagnosed with stage N1 and N2 non-small cell lung carcinoma: A population-based retrospective cohort study

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the US, predominantly non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Lymph node metastasis significantly impacts prognosis, yet current classification systems lack precision. Lymph node ratio (LNR), correlating metastatic to total lymph nodes, emerges as a superior prognostic tool. The study aimed to identify statistically validated LNR cutoffs and evaluate their prognostic significance in NSCLC patients, addressing limitations in the current tumor, node, and metastasis staging system. The study utilized data from the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results database (2010-2019) to analyze NSCLC patients undergoing tumor excision. Exclusions included those receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Patients receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy were excluded to isolate the independent impact of surgical lymph node retrieval on cancer-specific survival. The primary outcome focused on cancer-specific survival (CSS) stratified by LNR, with secondary analysis on N1/N2 NSCLC cases. X-tile software determined LNR cutoffs, categorizing patients into 3 groups. Descriptive statistics and Kaplan-Meier analysis were employed, along with multivariate Cox regression. Lower Akaike information criterion (AIC) values favored LNR models. Empower Stats and R software were utilized, with P < .05 indicating significance. Median CSS follow-up was 22 months, with 1265 NSCLC-related deaths. Lymph node retrieval averaged 11, with a median LNR of 0.15. X-tile analysis revealed LNR thresholds of 0.17 and 0.34, stratifying patients into low, medium, and high-risk groups. Kaplan-Meier show better differentiation when LNR is used as a predictor compared to N staging (LNR P < .0001 vs N stage P = .91). Multivariate Cox regression confirmed high LNR as an independent predictor of poorer CSS. A lower Akaike information criterion for LNR models highlighted its superior prognostic accuracy over N staging. This study demonstrates that the LNR is a superior prognostic indicator for N1 and N2 stage NSCLC compared to traditional N staging. By integrating metastatic burden and lymph node retrieval extent, LNR addresses key gaps in the tumor, node, and metastasis system and provides enhanced risk stratification. Clinicians can use LNR to identify high-risk patients who may benefit from intensified adjuvant therapies or tailored follow-up protocols. Further prospective studies are warranted to establish standardized LNR thresholds and validate its integration into clinical practice.

Evaluation of three lymph node staging systems for prognostic prediction in gastric cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Lymph node status is a critical prognostic factor in gastric cancer (GC), but stage migration may occur in pathological lymph nodes (pN) staging. To address this, alternative staging systems such as the positive lymph node ratio (LNR) and log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) were introduced.

AIM

To assess the prognostic accuracy and stratification efficacy of three nodal staging systems in GC.

METHODS

A systematic review identified 12 studies, from which hazard ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS) were summarized. Sensitivity analyses, subgroup analyses, publication bias assessments, and quality evaluations were conducted. To enhance comparability, data from studies with identical cutoff values for pN, LNR, and LODDS were pooled. Homogeneous stratification was then applied to generate Kaplan-Meier (KM) survival curves, assessing the stratification efficacy of three staging systems.

RESULTS

The HRs and 95% confidence intervals for pN, LNR, and LODDS were 2.16 (1.72-2.73), 2.05 (1.65-2.55), and 3.15 (2.15-4.37), respectively, confirming all three as independent prognostic risk factors for OS. Comparative analysis of HRs demonstrated that LODDS had superior prognostic predictive power over LNR and pN. KM curves for pN (N0, N1, N2, N3a, N3b), LNR (0.1/0.2/0.5), and LODDS (-1.5/-1.0/-0.5/0) revealed significant differences (P < 0.001) among all prognostic stratifications. Mean differences and standard deviations in 60-month relative survival were 27.93% ± 0.29%, 41.70% ± 0.30%, and 26.60% ± 0.28% for pN, LNR, and LODDS, respectively.

CONCLUSION

All three staging systems are independent prognostic factors for OS. LODDS demonstrated the highest specificity, making it especially useful for predicting outcomes, while pN was the most effective in homogeneous stratification, offering better patient differentiation. These findings highlight the complementary roles of LODDS and pN in enhancing prognostic accuracy and stratification.

Log odds of positive lymph nodes compared to positive lymph node ratio and number of positive lymph nodes in prognostic modeling for patients with NSCLC undergoing lobectomy or total pneumonectomy: a population-based study using Cox regression and XGBoost with SHAP analysis

Background

Methods such as the number of positive lymph nodes (nPLN), lymph node ratio (LNR), and log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) are used to predict prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We hypothesized that LODDS could be a superior independent predictor of prognosis and aimed to compare its effectiveness with nPLN and LNR in predicting survival outcomes in stage I-IIIA NSCLC patients.

Methods

We utilized data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) 17 registry (2010-2019) to study NSCLC patients, focusing on those who underwent surgery with confirmed lymph node involvement (N1 or N2 disease). We aimed to compare overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) based on nPLN, LNR, and LODDS. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were employed to evaluate survival, with thresholds determined using X-tile software. An XGBoost model was constructed to predict overall survival in patients using three features: LODDS, LNR, and PLN. SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis was applied to assess feature importance and provide interpretable insights into the model's predictions.

Results

The study analyzed 3,132 eligible NSCLC patients from the SEER database, predominantly male (53.07%) with adenocarcinoma (43.65%) or squamous cell carcinoma (29.76%). Survival outcomes were assessed using nPLN, LNR, and LODDS. LODDS showed superior predictive value for both OS and CSS compared to nPLN and LNR, as indicated by a larger Log Likelihood Ratio (LLR) and smaller Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). Higher scores on npLN, LNR, and LODDS were strongly related with a poorer prognosis, according to Kaplan-Meier analyses (P < 0.001). The SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) analysis of the XGBoost model demonstrated that the LODDS exhibited the highest SHAP values (0.25) for predicting overall survival in patients, consistently outperforming the LNR and the number of nPLN across both training and validation datasets.

Conclusions

Compared to the nPLN and LNR staging systems, LODDS demonstrates superior prognostic power for patients with stage I-IIIA NSCLC undergoing lobectomy or pneumonectomy. By integrating both positive and negative lymph node information, LODDS offers a refined risk stratification that is particularly valuable in cases with high lymph node heterogeneity.

Advances in molecular imaging and targeted therapeutics for lymph node metastasis in cancer: a comprehensive review

Lymph node metastasis is a critical indicator of cancer progression, profoundly affecting diagnosis, staging, and treatment decisions. This review article delves into the recent advancements in molecular imaging techniques for lymph nodes, which are pivotal for the early detection and staging of cancer. It provides detailed insights into how these techniques are used to visualize and quantify metastatic cancer cells, resident immune cells, and other molecular markers within lymph nodes. Furthermore, the review highlights the development of innovative, lymph node-targeted therapeutic strategies, which represent a significant shift towards more precise and effective cancer treatments. By examining cutting-edge research and emerging technologies, this review offers a comprehensive overview of the current and potential impact of lymph node-centric approaches on cancer diagnosis, staging, and therapy. Through its exploration of these topics, the review aims to illuminate the increasingly sophisticated landscape of cancer management strategies focused on lymph node assessment and intervention.

A log odds of positive lymph nodes-based predictive model effectively forecasts prognosis and guides postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy duration in stage III colon cancer: a multi-center retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

The log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) was considered a superior staging system to N stage in colon cancer, yet its value in determining the optimal duration of adjuvant chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer patients has not been evaluated. This study aims to assess the prognostic value of a model that combines LODDS with clinicopathological information for stage III colon cancer patients and aims to stratify these patients using the model, identifying individuals who could benefit from varying durations of adjuvant chemotherapy.

METHOD

A total of 663 consecutive patients diagnosed with stage III colon cancer, who underwent colon tumor resection between November 2007 and June 2020 at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center and Longyan First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, were enrolled in this study. Survival outcomes were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier, Cox regression. Nomograms were developed to forecast patient DFS, with the Area Under the Curve (AUC) values of time-dependent Receiver Operating Characteristic (timeROC) and calibration plots utilized to assess the accuracy and reliability of the nomograms.

RESULTS

Multivariate analysis revealed that perineural invasion (HR = 1.776, 95% CI: 1.052-3.003, P = 0.032), poor tumor differentiation (HR = 1.638, 95% CI: 1.084-2.475, P = 0.019), and LODDS groupings of 2 and 1 (HR = 1.920, 95% CI: 1.297-2.842, P = 0.001) were independent predictors of disease-free survival (DFS) in the training cohort. Nomograms constructed from LODDS, perineural invasion, and poor tumor differentiation demonstrated robust predictive performance for 3-year and 5-year DFS in both training (3-year AUC = 0.706, 5-year AUC = 0.678) and validation cohorts (3-year AUC = 0.744, 5-year AUC = 0.762). Stratification according to this model showed that patients in the high-risk group derived significant benefit from completing 8 cycles of chemotherapy (training cohort, 82.97% vs 67.17%, P = 0.013; validation cohort, 89.49% vs 63.97%, P = 0.030).

CONCLUSION

The prognostic model, integrating LODDS, pathological differentiation, and neural invasion, demonstrates strong predictive accuracy for stage III colon cancer prognosis. Moreover, stratification via this model offers valuable insights into optimal durations of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy.

A predictive nomogram developed and validated for gastric cancer patients with triple-negative tumor markers

Aim: To predict the prognosis of gastric cancer patients with triple-negative tumor markers. Materials & methods: Prognostic factors of the nomogram were identified through univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. Calibration and receiver operating characteristic curves were used to assess accuracy. Decision curve analysis and concordance indexes were utilized to compare the nomogram with the pathological tumor, node, metastasis stage. Results: A nomogram incorporating log odds of positive lymph nodes, tumor size and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio was constructed. The calibration and receiver operating characteristic curves (area under the curve >0.85) showed high accuracy in predicting overall survival. The concordance indexes (0.832 vs 0.760; p < 0.001) and decision curve analysis demonstrated that the nomogram was superior to the pathological tumor, node, metastasis stage. Conclusion: A prediction and risk stratification nomogram has been developed and validated for gastric cancer patients with triple-negative tumor markers.

Log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS)-based novel nomogram for survival estimation in patients with invasive micropapillary carcinoma of the breast

BACKGROUND

Invasive micropapillary carcinoma (IMPC) of the breast is known for its high propensity for lymph node (LN) invasion. Inadequate LN dissection may compromise the precision of prognostic assessments. This study introduces a log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) method to address this issue and develops a novel LODDS-based nomogram to provide accurate prognostic information.

METHODS

The study analyzed data from 1,901 patients with breast IMPC from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. It assessed the relationships between LODDS and the number of excised LN (eLN), positive LN (pLN), and the pLN ratio (pLNR), identifying an optimal threshold value using a restricted cubic spline method. Predictive factors were identified by the Cox least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Cox-LASSO) regression and validated through multivariate Cox regression to construct a nomogram. The model's accuracy, discrimination, and utility were assessed. The study also explored the consequences of excluding LODDS from the nomogram and compared its effectiveness with the tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging system.

RESULTS

LODDS improved N status classification by identifying heterogeneity in patients with pLN ratios of 0% (pLN =0) or 100% (pLN =eLN) and setting -1.08 as the ideal cutoff. Five independent prognostic factors for breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) were identified: tumor size, N status, LODDS, progesterone receptor status, and histological grade. The LODDS-based nomogram achieved a strong concordance index of 0.802 (95% CI: 0.741-0.863), surpassing both the version without LODDS and the conventional TNM staging in all tests.

CONCLUSIONS

For breast IMPC, LODDS served as an independent prognostic factor, its effectiveness unaffected by the anatomical LN count, enhancing the accuracy of N staging. The LODDS-based nomogram showed promise in offering more personalized prognostic information.

Log odds of positive nodes as a prognostic factor for rectal cancer: a retrospective study

OBJECTIVE

Rectal cancer is an important cause of mortality and morbidity globally. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the log odds of positive nodes system is a better indicator than tumor node metastasis and lymph node ratio systems to determine rectum cancer prognosis, which is an important cause of mortality and morbidity globally.

METHODS

This was a single-center retrospective cross-sectional study. Data were obtained from the medical records of patients with rectum adenocarcinoma followed at Gazi University Hospital. The clinicopathological data of 128 patients with rectum adenocarcinoma who underwent low anterior resection or abdominoperineal resection between January 2010 and December 2018 was retrospectively reviewed. Patients with rectum adenocarcinoma as the first and only primary diagnosis, which was confirmed by histopathological examination, than those who had undergone complete curative resection via low anterior resection or abdominoperineal resection were included. Those with familial adenomatous polyposis or Lynch syndrome, those under 18 years of age, with a synchronous tumor, peritoneal spread, or metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis, and those with <12 lymph nodes dissected from the resection material were excluded from the study.

RESULTS

In multivariate analysis, age, perineural invasion, tumor node metastasis stage, lymph node ratio stage, and log odds of positive nodes stage were found to be independent prognostic factors (p<0.05). LODDS2 patients' mortality rates were 9.495 times higher than LODDS0 patients [hazard ratio=9.495, (95%CI 4.155-21.694), p<0.001] while LNR2 stage patients' mortality rates were 7.016 times higher than LNR0 stage patients [hazard ratio=7.016, (95%CI 3.123-15.765), p<0.001] and N2 stage patients had a 5.135 times higher risk of mortality than those who were in N0 stage [hazard ratio=5.135 (95%CI 2.451-10.756), p<0.001].

CONCLUSION

Log odds of positive nodes is a more valuable prognostic factor for rectal cancer patients than tumor node metastasis and lymph node ratio systems to determine rectum cancer prognosis.

Comparative analysis of methodologies for predicting overall survival in patients with non-small cell lung cancer based on the number and rate of resected positive lymph nodes: A study based on the SEER database for 2010 through 2019

BACKGROUND

Lymph node (LN) metastasis is crucial in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) prognosis and treatment, but the TNM system lacks LN quantity consideration. Our goal is to investigate the role of positive LNs (nPLN) and positive LN rate (LNR) in overall survival (OS) and assess whether they offer higher value in prognostic assessment of NSCLC than N-stage.

METHODS

Patients were stratified into four subgroups using X-Tile software. Statistical analysis was conducted using the Kaplan-Meier method, univariate analysis, and multivariate Cox regression analysis. Model performance was evaluated using the Harrell consistency index (C-index), Akaike information criterion (AIC), and Bayesian information criterion (BIC). The prognostic performance of the nodal classification was validated using overall survival as the endpoint.

RESULTS

The survival curves demonstrate distinct disparities between each nPLN and LNR category. A pronounced trend toward deteriorating overall survival from N-PLN 1 to N-PLN 2+ was observed across all tumor size categories. However, the differences between each LNR category were only significant for tumors ≤3 cm and 5-7 cm. Notably, both nPLN and LNR classifications displayed a higher C-index, lower AIC, and lower BIC compared with the N staging. Furthermore, the LNR classification provided superior prognostic stratification when compared with the nPLN classification.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results demonstrate that nPLN and LNR classifications may offer improved prognostic performance compared with the current N classification for LN-positive NSCLC patients. Nonetheless, more studies are needed to assess the feasibility of incorporating these classifications into the next TNM staging system.

A Novel ypTLM Staging System Based on LODDS for Gastric Cancer After Neoadjuvant Therapy: Multicenter and Large-Sample Retrospective Study

BACKGROUND

The accuracy of the eighth AJCC ypTNM staging system on the prognosis of gastric cancer (GC) patients after neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) is controversial. This study aimed to develop and validate a novel staging system using the log odds of positive lymph nodes scheme (LODDS).

METHODS

A retrospective analysis of 606 GC patients who underwent radical gastrectomy after neoadjuvant therapy was conducted as the development cohort. (Fujian Medical University Affiliated Union Hospital (n = 183), Qinghai University Affiliated Hospital (n = 169), Mayo Clinic (n = 236), Lanzhou University First Hospital (n = 18)). The validation cohort came from the SEER database (n = 1701). A novel ypTLoddsS (ypTLM) staging system was established using the 3-year overall survival. The predictive performance of two systems was compared.

RESULTS

Two-step multivariate Cox regression analysis in both cohorts showed that ypTLM was an independent predictor of overall survival of GC patients after neoadjuvant therapy (HR: 1.57, 95% CI: 1.30-1.88, p < 0.001). In the development cohort, ypTLM had better discrimination ability than ypTNM (C-index: 0.663 vs 0.633, p < 0.001), better prediction homogeneity (LR: 97.7 vs. 70.9), and better prediction accuracy (BIC: 3067.01 vs 3093.82; NRI: 0.36). In the validation cohort, ypTLM had a better prognostic predictive ability (C-index: 0.614 vs 0.588, p < 0.001; LR: 11,909.05 vs. 11,975.75; BIC: 13,263.71 vs 13,328.24; NRI: 0.22). The time-dependent ROC curve shows that the predictive performance of ypTLM is better than ypTNM, and the analysis of the decision curve shows that ypTLM achieved better net benefits.

CONCLUSION

A LODDS-based ypTLM staging system based on multicenter data was established and validated. The predictive performance was superior to the eighth AJCC ypTNM staging system.

Prognostic Performance of Three Lymph-Node Staging Systems on Gastric Signet-Ring-Cell Carcinoma

BACKGROUND

The lymph-node staging system can predict the prognosis of gastric signet-ring-cell carcinoma (SRCC). However, there are significant differences in lymph-node status between early SRCC and advanced SRCC. Additionally, the optimal system for early and advanced SRCC remains unknown.

METHODS

This study retrospectively analyzed 693 SRCC patients who underwent radical resection in the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital. The predicted performance of three lymph-node staging systems, including pN staging, lymph-node metastasis rate (LNR), and log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS), was compared using the receiver characteristic operating curve (ROC) and c-index. The Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test analyzed the overall survival of patients. The Cox risk regression model identified independent risk factors associated with patient outcomes. The nomogram was made by R studio.

RESULTS

The 693 SRCC included 165 early SRCC and 528 advanced SRCC. ROC showed that LODDS had better predictive performance than pN and LNR in predicting prognosis regardless of early or advanced SRCC. LODDS can be used to predict the prognosis of early and advanced SRCC and was an independent risk factor associated with patient outcomes (p = 0.002, p < 0.001). Furthermore, the nomogram constructed by LODDS and clinicopathological features had good predictive performance.

CONCLUSIONS

LODDS showed clear prognostic superiority over both pN and LNR in early and advanced SRCC.

Log odds of positive lymph nodes as a novel prognostic predictor for gastric cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the predictive and prognostic ability of the log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) staging system and compare it with pathological N (pN) classification and the ratio-based lymph node system (rN) for the overall survival (OS) of gastric cancer (GC).

METHODS

Through a systematic review till March 7, 2022, we identified population-based studies that reported the prognostic effects of LODDS in patients with GC. We compare the predictive effectiveness of the LODDS staging system with that of the rN and pN classification systems for the OS of GC.

RESULTS

Twelve studies comprising 20,312 patients were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The results showed that LODDS1, LODDS2, LODDS3, and LODDS4 in GC patients were correlated with poor OS compared with LODDS0 (LODDS1 vs. LODDS0: HR = 1.62, 95% CI (1.42, 1.85); LODDS2 vs. LODDS0: HR = 2.47, 95% CI (2.02, 3.03); LODDS3 vs. LODDS0: HR = 3.15, 95% CI (2.50, 3.97); LODDS4 vs. LODDS0: HR = 4.55, 95% CI (3.29, 6.29)). Additionally, significant differences in survival were observed among patients with different LODDS classifications (all P-values were < 0.001) with the same rN and pN classifications. Meanwhile, for patients with different pN or rN classifications with the same LODDS classification, prognosis was highly similar.

CONCLUSION

The findings show that LODDS is correlated with the prognosis of GC patients and is superior to the pN and rN classifications for prognostic assessment.

Prognostic Involvement of Lymph Node Density in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma. A New Predictive Model

PURPOSE

Lymph node density (LND) has been reported to be a significant predictor of survival in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The aim of this study was to analyze LND as a prognostic factor in OSCC and create a predictive model that determines the probability of death in these patients.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study was carried out with a cohort of patients who underwent cervical dissection and primary resection of OSCC between 1980 and 2020. The primary predictor variable in this study was LND, which is defined as the number of positive lymph nodes divided by the total number of lymph nodes removed. The cutoff values for prediction of disease-specific survival (DSS) were calculated by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, which determined the best cutoff value was 0.07. Patients were divided into binary subgroups (low and high risk) using the best cutoff value of LND. The outcome variable was DSS, defined as the duration from the date of diagnosis to death due to OSCC and not due to other causes or secondary tumors. Other variables were type of neck dissection, postsurgical treatment, surgical margin, pathological T category stage, pathological N category (pN) stage, extranodal extension, perineural invasion, bone invasion, and presence of recurrence. A predictive model (score) was generated by selecting variables using a log-rank test and by using the Cox proportional-hazards regression (multivariate analysis).

RESULTS

The sample consisted of 368 patients, 252 (68.5%) male and 116 (31.5%) female patients, with a mean age of 60.3 years. According to the LND cutoff value, there were 289 patients with a low LND (≤0.07) and 79 with a high LND (>0.07). The univariate analysis showed LND as a significant predictor of DSS at 5 years (67.1% in LND ≤ 0.07 vs 32.9% in LND > 0.07; P < .001). The Cox multivariate analysis identified LND (hazard ratio [HR] = 27.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.18-231; P = .002), recurrence (HR = 4.45; 95% CI, 2.3-8.4; P < .001), and type of treatment (HR = 0.52; 95% CI, 0.34-0.81; P < .001) as independent predictive factors for DSS. In the predictive model, the presence of recurrence was the most important factor with 8 points, whereas LND >0.07 contributed only 1 point; however, the 2 categories resulting from this limit were statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study demonstrates that LND is an additional prognostic factor in patients with a pN+ disease. In addition, our predictive model could be useful in the therapeutic algorithm of OSCC patients, as it can predict the probability of death in these patients.

Log Odds of Positive Lymph Nodes (LODDS) as an Independent Predictor of Overall Survival Following Radical Cystectomy in Urothelial Bladder Cancer: Time to Rethink Conventional Node Staging

BACKGROUND

Radical cystectomy (RC) with lymph node dissection is the mainstay of treatment for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) and high risk non-MIBC. The American Joint Committee on Cancer's (AJCC) node staging and lymph node ratio (LNR) systems are used in estimating prognosis; however, they do not directly factor in negative dissected nodes. In this study, we evaluated the log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS), a novel measure of nodal involvement, as a predictor of survival.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Eighty-three patients who underwent RC were retrospectively included and their demographic and clinical data were collected. Kaplan-Meier curve and Cox regression were used for survival analyses.

RESULTS

Median number of dissected lymph nodes was 13 (range 3-45). ROC curve analysis indicated -0.92 as the optimal LODDS cutoff. LODDS > -0.92 was associated with higher T stage, lymphovascular invasion, and significantly worse overall survival (OS) (mean OS 18.6 vs. 45.1 months, P-value < .001). Furthermore, we evaluated AJCC node staging, LNR, and LODDS in three separate multivariable Cox regression models. Among 3 different measures of nodal disease burden, only LODDS was an independent predictor of OS (HR 2.71, 95% CI 1.28-5.73, P = .009).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results show that LODDS is an independent predictor of OS and outperforms AJCC node staging and LNR in forecasting prognosis among patients with urothelial bladder cancer who undergo RC.

Association of lymph node metastases, grade and extent of mesenteric lymph node dissection in locoregional small intestinal neuroendocrine tumors with recurrence-free survival

We aimed to assess the prognostic impact of tumor- and patient-related parameters in patients with stage I-III small intestinal neuroendocrine tumors (SI-NETs), who underwent locoregional resective surgery (LRS) with curative intent. We included 229 patients with stage I-III SI-NETs diagnosed from June 15, 1993, through March 8, 2021, identified using the SI-NET databases from five European referral centers. Mean ± SD age at baseline was 62.5 ± 13.6 years; 111/229 patients were women (49.3%). All tumors were well-differentiated; 160 were grade 1 (G1) tumors, 51 were G2, two were G3 and 18 tumors were of unspecified grade (median Ki-67: 2%, range 1%-50%). One-hundred and sixty-three patients (71.2%) had lymph node (LN) involvement. The median number of retrieved lymph nodes was 10 (0-63), whereas the median number of positive LNs was 2 (0-43). After a mean ± SD follow-up of 54.1 ± 64.1 months, 60 patients experienced disease recurrence at a median (range) of 36.2 (2.5-285.1) months. The 5- and 10-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were 66.6% and 49.3% respectively. In univariable analysis, there was no difference in RFS and overall survival (OS) between LN-positive and LN-negative patients (log-rank, p = .380 and .198, respectively). However, in stage IIIb patients who underwent mesenteric lymph node dissection (MLND) with a minimum of five retrieved LN (n = 125), five or more LN metastases were associated with shorter RFS (median RFS [95% CI] = 107.4 [0-229.6] vs. 73.7 [35.3-112.1] months; log-rank, p = .048). In addition, patients with G2 tumors exhibited shorter RFS compared to patients with G1 tumors (median RFS [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 46.9 [36.4-57.3] vs. 120.7 [82.7-158.8] months; log-rank, p = .001). In multivariable Cox-regression RFS analysis in stage IIIb patients, the Ki-67 proliferation index (hazard ratio = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.035-1.131; p < .0001) and the number of LN metastases (hazard ratio = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.001-1.125; p = .047) were independent prognostic factors for RFS. In conclusion, LRS with a meticulous MLND and a minimum number of five harvested LNs appears to be critical in the surgical management of SI-NET patients with locoregional disease. In patients who underwent LRS and MLND, the Ki-67 proliferation index and the LN metastases count were independent predictors of RFS.

Beyond N staging in colorectal cancer: Current approaches and future perspectives

Traditionally, lymph node metastases (LNM) evaluation is essential to the staging of colon cancer patients according to the TNM (tumor-node-metastasis) system. However, in recent years evidence has accumulated regarding the role of emerging pathological features, which could significantly impact the prognosis of colorectal cancer patients. Lymph Node Ratio (LNR) and Log Odds of Positive Lymph Nodes (LODDS) have been shown to predict patients' prognosis more accurately than traditional nodal staging and it has been suggested that their implementation in existing classification could help stratify further patients with overlapping TNM stage. Tumor deposits (TD) are currently factored within the N1c category of the TNM classification in the absence of lymph node metastases. However, studies have shown that presence of TDs can affect patients' survival regardless of LNM. Moreover, evidence suggest that presence of TDs should not be evaluated as dichotomic but rather as a quantitative variable. Extranodal extension (ENE) has been shown to correlate with presence of other adverse prognostic features and to impact survival of colorectal cancer patients. In this review we will describe current staging systems and prognostic/predictive factors in colorectal cancer and elaborate on available evidence supporting the implementation of LNR/LODDS, TDs and ENE evaluation in existing classification to improve prognosis estimation and patient selection for adjuvant treatment.

Log odds of positive lymph nodes as a novel prognostic predictor for colorectal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most prevalent cancer in the world, which remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths. Accurate prognosis prediction of CRC is pivotal to reduce the mortality and disease burden. Lymph node (LN) metastasis is one of the most commonly used criteria to predict prognosis in CRC patients. However, inaccurate surgical dissection and pathological evaluation may lead to inaccurate nodal staging, affecting the effectiveness of pathological N (pN) classification in survival prediction among patients with CRC. In this meta-analysis, we aimed to estimate the prognostic value of the log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) in patients with CRC.

METHODS

PubMed, Medline, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched for relevant studies from inception to July 3, 2021. Statistical analyses were performed on Stata statistical software Version 16.0 software. To statistically assess the prognostic effects of LODDS, we extracted the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) from the included studies.

RESULTS

Ten eligible articles published in English involving 3523 cases were analyzed in this study. The results showed that LODDS1 and LODDS2 in CRC patients was correlated with poor OS compared with LODDS0 (LODDS1 vs. LODDS0: HR = 1.77, 95% CI (1.38, 2.28); LODDS2 vs. LODDS0: HR = 3.49, 95% CI (2.88, 4.23)). Meanwhile, LODDS1 and LODDS2 in CRC patients was correlated with poor DFS compared with LODDS0 (LODDS1 vs. LODDS0: HR = 1.82, 95% CI (1.23, 2.68); LODDS2 vs. LODDS0: HR =3.30, 95% CI (1.74, 6.27)).

CONCLUSIONS

The results demonstrated that the LODDS stage was associated with prognosis of CRC patients and could accurately predict the prognosis of patients with CRC.

Gini's mean difference and the long-term prognostic value of nodal quanta classes after pre-operative chemotherapy in advanced breast cancer

Gini's mean difference (GMD, mean absolute difference between any two distinct quantities) of the restricted mean survival times (RMSTs, expectation of life at a given time limit) has been proposed as a new metric where higher GMD indicates better prognostic value. GMD is applied to the RMSTs at 25 years time-horizon to evaluate the long-term overall survival of women with breast cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy, comparing a classification based on the number (pN) versus a classification based on the ratio (LNRc) of positive nodes found at axillary surgery. A total of 233 patients treated in 1980-2009 with documented number of positive nodes (npos) and number of nodes examined (ntot) were identified. The numbers were categorized into pN0, npos = 0; pN1, npos = [1,3]; pN2, npos = [4,9]; pN3, npos ≥ 10. The ratios npnx = npos/ntot were categorized into Lnr0, npnx = 0; Lnr1, npnx = (0,0.20]; Lnr2, npnx = (0.20,0.65]; Lnr3, npnx > 0.65. The GMD for pN-classification was 5.5 (standard error: ± 0.9) years, not much improved over a simple node-negative vs. node-positive that showed a GMD of 5.0 (± 1.4) years. The GMD for LNRc-classification was larger, 6.7 (± 0.8) years. Among other conventional metrics, Cox-model LNRc's c-index was 0.668 vs. pN's c = 0.641, indicating commensurate superiority of LNRc-classification. The usability of GMD-RMSTs warrants further investigation.

Lymph node status and its impact on the prognosis of left-sided and right-sided colon cancer: A SEER population-based study

Background

Some significant differences exist between the outcomes of left‐ and right‐sided colon cancer patients. The presence of nodal metastases is a critical prognostic factor, especially in the absence of distant metastasis. Our research studied the lymph nodes status of left‐ and right‐sided colon cancer patients to determine the influence of this factor on prognosis.

Methods

Our data were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. We used the chi‐square test to analyze the clinicopathological characteristics. The X‐tile program was adopted to acquire optimal cutoff points of lymph node index. Kaplan–Meier curves were used to analyze prognosis and multivariate Cox regression models were performed to identify the independent factors associated with survival. Nomograms were built to predict the overall survival of patients, Harrell's C‐index and calibration plots were used to validate the nomograms.

Results

The study included 189,941 patients with colon cancer without metastasis (left 69,885, right 120,056) between 2004 and 2015. There are more patients with adequate examined lymph nodes in right‐sided. Lymph node status in patients with right colon cancer has a more significant impact on the risk of death. LODDS (C‐index: 0.583; AIC: 6875.4) was used to assess lymph node status. The nomograms showed that lymph node status was the main factor to predict the outcome in right‐sided colon patients.

Conclusions

The influence of lymph node status on predicting prognosis is significantly different between patients with left and right colon cancer without metastasis. The tumor site needs to be considered when lymph node status is used to assess the outcome of patients.

Breast cancer preoperative 18FDG-PET, overall survival prognostic separation compared with the lymph node ratio

PURPOSE

To evaluate the overall survival prognostic value of preoperative 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) in breast cancer, as compared with the lymph node ratio (LNR).

METHODS

Data were abstracted at a median follow-up 14.7 years from a retrospective cohort of 104 patients who underwent PET imaging before curative surgery. PET-Axillary|Sternal was classified as PET-positive if hypermetabolism was visualized in ipsilateral nodal axillary and/or sternal region, else as PET-negative. The differences of 15 years restricted mean survival time ∆RMST according to PET and LNR were computed from Kaplan-Meier overall survival. The effect of PET and other patients' characteristics was analyzed through rankit normalization, which provides with Cox regression the Royston-Sauerbrei D measure of separation to compare the characteristics (0 indicating no prognostic value). Multivariate analysis of the normalized characteristics used stepwise selection with the Akaike information criterion.

RESULTS

In Kaplan-Meier analysis, LNR > 0.20 versus ≤ 0.20 showed ∆RMST = 3.4 years, P = 0.003. PET-Axillary|Sternal positivity versus PET-negative showed a ∆RMST = 2.6 years, P = 0.008. In Cox univariate analyses, LNR appeared as topmost prognostic separator, D = 1.50, P < 0.001. PET ranked below but was also highly significant, D = 1.02, P = 0.009. In multivariate analyses, LNR and PET-Axillary|Sternal were colinear and mutually exclusive. PET-Axillary|Sternal improved as prognosticator in a model excluding lymph nodes, yielding a normalized hazard ratio of 2.44, P = 0.062.

CONCLUSION

Pathological lymph node assessment remains the gold standard of prognosis. However, PET appears as a valuable surrogate in univariate analysis at 15-year follow-up. There was a trend towards significance in multivariate analysis that warrants further investigation.

The Clinical Significance of Lymph Node Ratio and Ki-67 Expression in Papillary Thyroid Cancer

BACKGROUND

The N stage in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is an important prognostic factor based on anatomical localization of cervical lymph nodes (LNs) only and not the extent of lymphatic metastasis. In this retrospective study, the clinical significance of lymph node ratio (LNR) and tumor cell proliferation in relation to the conventional classification of PTC was explored.

METHODS

Patients diagnosed with PTC at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, during the years 2009-2011 were included. The LNR, defined as the number of metastatic LNs divided by the total number of LNs investigated, and the Ki-67 index were analyzed in relation to clinical data.

RESULTS

The median number of LN removed was 16 with the following N stage distribution: N0 (26%), N1a (45%), and N1b (29%). A Ki-67 index of ≥3% was significantly correlated with the presence of metastases and tumor recurrence with a sensitivity of 50% and specificity of 80% (p = 0.015). Lymph node ratio ≥21% was related to tumor recurrence with sensitivity of 89% and specificity of 70% (p = 0.006). Patients with LN metastases in the lateral cervical compartment only had significantly lower LNR (14.5%) compared to those with both central and lateral cervical metastases (39.5%) (p = 0.004) and exhibited no tumor recurrence. Increased Ki-67 index was significantly related to LNR ≥21% (p = 0.023) but was not associated with N stage.

CONCLUSIONS

The Ki-67 proliferation index and LNR may better reflect the malignant behavior of PTC compared to the anatomical classification of LN metastases solely.

Prognostic Impact of Lymph Node Ratio in Patients Undergoing Preoperative Chemoradiotherapy Followed by Curative Resection for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer

BACKGROUND/AIM

To analyze the prognostic significance of nodal status in patients undergoing preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by curative resection for locally advanced rectal cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Between 2000 and 2015, 80 consecutive patients with rectal cancer underwent preoperative CRT followed by curative resection. The lymph node ratio (LNR) was defined as the number of positive lymph nodes (LNs) divided by the examined LNs, and log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) was the log of the ratio between positive and negative LNs. The prognostic value of these indicators was evaluated in terms of overall (OS) and disease-free (DFS) survival.

RESULTS

The median follow-up period for patients overall was 59 months (range=11-190 months). The median number of examined LNs and number of positive LNs were 10 (range=1-29) and 2 (range=1-27), respectively, and the median LNR and LODDS values were 0.0 (range=0.0-0.96) and -1.0 (range=-1.7-1.3), respectively. The 5-year OS and DFS were 83% and 64%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, LNR was an independent prognostic factor in terms OS (p=0.041) but not for DFS (p=0.075). LODDS was not significantly associated with OS or DFS. In patients with clinical stage III rectal cancer, LNR was significantly associated with OS and DFS when the number of evaluated LNs was greater than 12 (p=0.038 for OS, p=0.006 for DFS).

CONCLUSION

Our study suggests that LNR is a more effective prognostic factor than LODDS in terms of predicting survival. LNR was a significant predictor for survival for patients with clinical stage III rectal cancer with >12 harvested LNs.

Log odds of positive lymph nodes is a better prognostic factor for oesophageal signet ring cell carcinoma than N stage

BACKGROUND

Signet ring cell carcinoma is a rare type of oesophageal cancer, and we hypothesized that log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) is a better prognostic factor for oesophageal signet ring cell carcinoma.

AIM

To explore a novel prognostic factor for oesophageal signet ring cell carcinoma by comparing two lymph node-related prognostic factors, log odds of positive LODDS and N stage.

METHODS

A total of 259 cases of oesophageal signet ring cell carcinoma after oesopha-gectomy were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database between 2006 and 2016. The prognostic value of LODDS and N stage for oesophageal signet ring cell carcinoma was evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses. The Akaike information criterion and Harrell’s C-index were used to assess the value of two prediction models based on lymph nodes. External validation was performed to further confirm the conclusion.

RESULTS

The 5-year cancer-specific survival (CSS) and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates of all the cases were 41.3% and 27.0%, respectively. The Kaplan-Meier method showed that LODDS had a higher score of log rank chi-squared (OS: 46.162, CSS: 41.178) than N stage (OS: 36.215, CSS: 31.583). Univariate analyses showed that insurance, race, T stage, M stage, TNM stage, radiation therapy, N stage, and LODDS were potential prognostic factors for OS (P < 0.1). The multivariate Cox regression model showed that LODDS was an significant independent prognostic factor for oesophageal signet ring carcinoma patients after surgical resection (P < 0.05), while N stage was not considered to be a significant prognostic factor (P = 0.122). Model 2 (LODDS) had a higher degree of discrimination and fit than Model 1 (N stage) (LODDS vs N stage, Harell’s C-index 0.673 vs 0.656, P < 0.001; Akaike information criterion 1688.824 vs 1697.519, P < 0.001). The results of external validation were consistent with those in the study cohort.

CONCLUSION

LODDS is a superior prognostic factor to N stage for patients with oesophageal signet ring cell carcinoma after oesophagectomy.

Number of Positive Lymph Nodes Is Superior to LNR and LODDS for Predicting the Prognosis of Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms

BACKGROUND

The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging for pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (PanNENs) based on the number of positive lymph nodes (PLNs) is the most widely accepted nodal staging system. New nodal staging schemes that take both the number of PLNs and the number of examined lymph nodes into consideration have emerged as useful prognostic tools. The aim of the current study was to determine the most effective nodal staging system, among the 8th edition AJCC N staging (or PLN staging), lymph node ratio (LNR), and log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS), for predicting the cause-specific survival of patients with PanNENs.

METHODS

The clinicopathological and prognostic data of 2,295 patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, diagnosed with PanNENs between 1988 and 2015, were reviewed retrospectively.

RESULTS

A multivariate analysis identified PLN and LNR staging as independent prognostic factors, but not LODDS. The PLN staging exhibited higher C-index and area under the curve values than those of the LNR and LODDS, indicating better predictive discriminatory capacity. No significant difference in the survival of patients was observed within the same PLN staging subgroup according to the number (high or low) of examined lymph nodes. In contrast, intra-group heterogeneity was seen with use of LNR and LODDS staging, due to overestimation of the risk of insufficient examined lymph nodes, and LODDS failed to stratify patients without lymph nodes metastasis into different risk groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The PLN staging is more reliable than LNR and LODDS staging for predicting the cause-specific survival of PanNENs.

A negative binomial regression model for risk estimation of 0-2 axillary lymph node metastases in breast cancer patients

Extensive clinical trials indicate that patients with negative sentinel lymph node biopsy do not need axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). However, the ACOSOG Z0011 trial indicates that patients with clinically negative axillary lymph nodes (ALNs) and 1-2 positive sentinel lymph nodes having breast conserving surgery with whole breast radiotherapy do not benefit from ALND. The aim of this study is therefore to identify those patients with 0-2 positive nodes who might avoid ALND. A total of 486 patients were eligible for the study with 212 patients in the modeling group and 274 patients in the validation group, respectively. Clinical lymph node status, histologic grade, estrogen receptor status, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status were found to be significantly associated with ALN metastasis. A negative binomial regression (NBR) model was developed to predict the probability of having 0-2 ALN metastases with the area under the curve of 0.881 (95% confidence interval 0.829-0.921, P < 0.001) in the modeling group and 0.758 (95% confidence interval 0.702-0.807, P < 0.001) in the validation group. Decision curve analysis demonstrated that the model was clinically useful. The NBR model demonstrated adequate discriminative ability and clinical utility for predicting 0-2 ALN metastases.

Lymph-node ratio predicts survival among the different stages of non-small-cell lung cancer: a multicentre analysis†

OBJECTIVES

The prognostic role of the number of resected and metastatic lymph nodes in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is still being debated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of lymphadenectomy in addition to the already validated variables in NSCLC survival.

METHODS

From January 2002 to December 2012, data on 4858 patients with NSCLC undergoing anatomical lung resection and hilomediastinal lymphadenectomy in 6 institutions were analysed retrospectively. Established prognostic factors in addition to the number of resected lymph nodes and the ratio between the number of metastatic lymph nodes and the number of resected lymph nodes (NR) were correlated to overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) using the multivariable Cox regression model. Harrell's C-statistic with the 95% confidence interval (CI) was determined. Analysis by means of maximally selected log-rank statistics was performed to find optimal cut-off points in order to split patients into groups with different outcome probabilities.

RESULTS

The median numbers of resected lymph nodes and of metastatic lymph nodes were 17 (range 6-85) and 2 (1-36), respectively. Hilar (N1) and mediastinal (N2) metastases were identified in 21.3% and 20.0% of cases, respectively. Overall, the 5-year OS and DFS rates were 54.6% and 44.8%, respectively. At multivariable analysis, age, gender, pathological stage, R0 resection, type of surgery and NR correlated with longer OS rates; the same variables plus tumour grading were further related to DFS. C-statistics were 66.0 (95% CI 62.7-69.4) for DFS and 60.5 (95% CI 58.3-62.6) for OS. An NR <40% significantly correlated with a higher 5-year survival rate in the total sample (OS 57.6% vs 23.8%, P < 0.001; DFS 48.2% vs 11.4, P < 0.001) and in patients with N1 (OS 47.9% vs 36.1%, P = 0.03; DFS 39% vs 24.2%, P = 0.02) and N2 (OS 36.9% vs 21.8%, P < 0.001 DFS 23.9% vs 9.1%, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study confirms that the number of resected lymph nodes is a strong prognostic indicator in NSCLC. In particular, an NR cut-off value of 40% may predict both OS and DFS.

Nomograms for prediction of overall and cancer-specific survival in young breast cancer

PURPOSE

To assess the prognostic risk factors and establish prognostic nomograms based on lymph node ratio (LNR) to predict the survival of young patients with breast cancer (BC).

METHODS

Patients aged < 40 years and diagnosed with BC between 2010 and 2016 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database were assessed. Nomograms incorporating LNR were constructed to predict overall survival (OS) and breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) based on Cox proportional hazards model. The performance of the nomograms was assessed by C-index, calibration curves, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, decision curve analysis (DCA), and risk group stratification and compared with the TNM staging system.

RESULTS

Based on the univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis, significant prognostic factors were identified and integrated to create the nomograms for OS and BCSS. The calibration curves indicated optimal agreement between model predictions and actual observations. The nomograms showed favorable sensitivity with a C-index of 0.8351 (95% CI 0.8234-0.8469) for OS and 0.8474 (95% CI 0.8355-0.8594) for BCSS. The ROC curves of the nomograms showed better predictive ability than those of the TNM staging system for OS (AUC: 0.8503 vs. 0.7819) and BSCC (AUC: 0.8607 vs. 0.8081). Significant differences in Kaplan-Meier curves were observed in patients stratified into different risk groups (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

These nomograms provided more accurate individualized risk prediction of OS and BCSS and may assist clinicians in making decisions for young patients with BC.

The prognostic value of lymph node ratio in survival of non-metastatic breast carcinoma patients

PURPOSE

This study was conducted to assess the correlation between lymph node ratio (LNR) and prognosis of non-metastatic invasive breast carcinoma.

METHOD

This retrospective study examined 455 patients who were diagnosed with non-metastatic, unilateral invasive breast carcinoma and underwent either breast conservative surgery (BCS) or modified radical mastectomy (MRM) with axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) with at least one lymph node identified in the ALND specimen. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis was used to find out predictive cut-off values of the LNR and negative lymph nodes (NLN).

RESULTS

The median follow-up duration was 38 months. The median DFS and OS were 68 months and 72 months, respectively. 25.1% of patients had reported recurrence. The optimal cut-off value of LNR was 0.40. LNR was found to correlate significantly with pathological T (p < 0.001), pathological N (p < 0.001), and NLN (p < 0.001). Univariate analysis of the patients showed that the age group ≤ 35 years, menstrual status, pathological T, nodal status, lymphovascular invasion (LVI), perineural invasion (PNI), tumor grade, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), molecular subtypes, LNR, and NLN can affect disease-free survival (DFS) (p < 0.05) and OS (p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that the pathological T (p < 0.001), menstrual status (p = 0.030), and LNR (p < 0.001) were the independent prognostic factors for DFS. Pathological T (p < 0.001) and LNR (p < 0.001) were the independent prognostic factors affecting OS.

CONCLUSION

LNR is the independent prognostic factor of DFS and OS for non-metastatic breast carcinoma.

Log odds of positive lymph nodes is prognostically equivalent to lymph node ratio in non-metastatic colon cancer

BACKGROUND

Globally, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third and second leading cancer in men and women respectively with 600,000 deaths per year. Traditionally, clinicians have relied solely on nodal disease involvement, and measurements such as lymph node ratio (LNR; the ratio of metastatic/positive lymph nodes to total number of lymph nodes examined), when determining patient prognosis in CRC. The log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) is a logistic transformation formula that uses pathologic lymph node data to stratify survival differences among patients within a single stage of disease. This formula allows clinicians to identify whether patients with clinically aggressive tumours fall into higher-risk groups regardless of nodal positivity and can potentially guide adjuvant treatment modalities. The aim of this study was to investigate whether LODDS in colon cancer provides better prognostication compared to LNR.

METHODS

A retrospective study of patients on the prospectively maintained Cabrini Monash University Department of Surgery colorectal neoplasia database, incorporating data from hospitals in Melbourne Australia, identified patients entered between January 2010 and March 2016. Association of LODDS and LNR with clinical variables were analysed. Disease-free (DFS) and overall (OS) survival were investigated with Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier survival analyses.

RESULTS

There were 862 treatment episodes identified in the database (402 male, 47%). The median patient age was 73 (range 22-100 years). There were 799 colonic cancers and 63 rectosigmoid cancers. The lymph node yield (LNY) was suboptimal (< 12) in 168 patients (19.5%) (p = 0.05). The 5-year OS for the different LNR groups were 86, 91 and 61% (p < 0.001) for LNR₀ (655 episodes), LNR₁ (128 episodes) and LNR₂ (78 episodes), respectively. For LODDS, they were 85, 91 and 61% (p < 0.001) in LODDS₀ (569 episodes), LODDS₁ (217 episodes) and LODDS₂ (75 episodes) groups (p < 0.001). Overall survival rates were comparable between the LNR and LODDS group and for LNY < 12 and stage III patients when each were sub-grouped by LODDS and LNR.

CONCLUSION

This study has shown for that the prognostic impact of LODDS is comparable to LNR for colon cancer patients. Accordingly, LNR is recommended for prognostication given its ease of calculation.

Prognostic value of log odds of positive lymph nodes in patients with resectable oral squamous cell carcinoma

OBJECTIVES

Log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) was reported to be significantly associated with prognosis in several malignant tumors. However, few are the studies on the correlation between LODDS and overall survival (OS) in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A retrospective study including 233 patients with OSCC during 2009 to 2013 was conducted. We probed the correlation between clinicopathological factor, LODDS, lymph node ratio (LNR), pN and OS. The potential prognostic factor and the independent factor were calculated using univariate analysis and multivariate analysis respectively. The goodness of fit and the discriminability was analyzed with Somer's D value, Nagelkerke R2 index, and Akaike information criterion (AIC). Kaplan-Meier survival curve of OS was contrasted by log-rank test in LODDS, LNR and pN, respectively.

RESULTS

According to the X-tile, the cut-off values are -1.491 and -0.763 for LODDS, 0.024 and 0.133 for LNR. LODDS, LNR and pN were significantly correlated with OS by univariate analysis (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis demonstrated LODDS, LNR and pN as an independent prognostic factors for OS (P < 0.01). Compared with pN and LNR models, LODDS showed the strongest predictive power. LODDS was superior to LNR and pN in predicting outcomes in patients with no positive lymph nodes and inadequate neck dissection.

CONCLUSION

LODDS would be incorporated into future N classification, which may be conducive to discern the prognosis of OSCC and make a decision of adjuvant therapy in clinical practice.

Mediastinal Up-Staging During Surgery in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: Which Mediastinal Lymph Node Metastasis Patterns Better Predict The Outcome? A Multicenter Analysis

BACKGROUND

Unexpected N2 involvement occurs in approximately 10% to 20% of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and patients' prognostic factors remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate prognostic factors in these patients.

METHODS

From January 2002 to December 2012, we retrospectively analyzed data of 550 patients with NSCLC with preoperative negative, but pathologic positive N2 involvement, who underwent anatomical lung resection and hilo-mediastinal lymphadenectomy, obtained from 6 institutions. An established prognostic factor panel and N2-type involvement were correlated to overall (OS), cancer-specific (CSS), and disease-free survival (DFS) using multivariate Cox Regression model. The following lymph node patterns were analyzed: number of resected nodes (#RNs), metastatic nodes (#MNs), ratio between #MNs and #RNs (NR), N2 subgroups proposed for the eighth TNM edition, and lobe-specific versus nonspecific metastasis.

RESULTS

Regarding our cohort, 419 patients were staged IIIA (T1-2N2), 131 IIIB (T3-4 N2), 113 pT1, 306 pT2, 94 pT3, and 37 pT4; 5-year OS, DFS, and CSS were 34.1%, 20.1%, and 64.6%, respectively. Independent prognostic factor for OS, in the multivariable analysis, were as follows: NR <17% (P = .009), proposed N2 classification subgroups (P = .014), age <66 (P < .001), and pT (P = .005); for DFS: NR <17% (P = .003), adjuvant treatment (P = .026), and pT (P = .026); and for CSS: NR <17% (P = .008), grading (P = .001), and adjuvant treatment (P < .001).

CONCLUSION

Our study confirms that adjuvant therapy is fundamental and NR, in patients with unexpected N2 involvement, has a strong prognostic factor. In particular, a NR cutoff value of 17% could predict OS, DFS, and CSS in patients with NSCLC.

Log odds of positive lymph nodes predicts survival in patients treated with neoadjuvant therapy followed by esophagectomy

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) in survival prediction of patients with esophageal carcinoma receiving neoadjuvant therapy, compared with N descriptor and positive lymph node ratio (LNR).

METHODS

Patients with esophageal carcinoma receiving neoadjuvant therapy from 2004 to 2015 were reviewed in Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. The receiver operating characteristics curve and area under the curve (AUC) were used to compare discriminatory power among N descriptor, LNR, and LODDS. The goodness of fit was measured using the -2 log-likelihood ratio (-2LLR).

RESULTS

About 2239 patients with a 22 months median follow-up and a 37.8% 5-year overall survival rate were included. LODDS had the best discriminatory power and goodness of fit (LODDS vs N descriptor, AUC 0.666 vs 0.626, -2LLR 15 680.402 vs 15 746.162; LODDS vs LNR, AUC 0.666 vs 0.635, -2LLR 15 680.402 vs 15 712.379; all P < .001). LODDS was the best for fewer than 15 lymph nodes retrieved (LODDS vs N descriptor, AUC 0.652 vs 0.618, P < .001; LODDS vs LNR, AUC 0.652 vs 0.625, P = .005). The prognosis of patients without metastatic nodes could be discriminated by LODDS.

CONCLUSIONS

LODDS could better predict survival of patients with esophageal carcinoma receiving neoadjuvant therapy.

Axillary Lymph Node Involvement in Breast Cancer: A Random Walk Model of Tumor Burden

We reinvestigate the relationship between axillary lymph node involvement in breast cancer and the overall risk of death. Patients were women from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program, aged between 50 and 65 years, presenting a first primary T1-T2 (tumor size ≤5 cm), node-positive, non-metastasized unilateral breast carcinoma, diagnosed from 1988 to 1997, treated with mastectomy without radiotherapy. Hazard ratios (HRs) were computed at each percentage of involved nodes using the proportional hazards model, adjusting for the patient's demographic and tumor characteristics. The pattern of the hazard ratios was examined using serial correlations. Significance testing used the "portmanteau" test. Based on 4,387 records available for analysis, the relation between adjusted mortality and axillary lymph node involvement was modeled as Ht - Ht- 1 = μ + at, where t is the percentage of involved nodes, Ht is the mortality hazard ratio at the percentage t, μ is a constant, and at is white noise. The constant μ was estimated at 0.020, corresponding to a 2% increment in the mortality hazard ratio per 1% increase in the percentage of positive nodes. The model was considered acceptable by the "portmanteau" test (P=0.205). We conclude that the effect of the tumor burden might be expressed as a random walk difference model, relating the mortality hazard ratio with the percentage of involved nodes. We will use the model to explore how treatments affect the course of the disease.

Modified lymph node ratio improves the prognostic predictive ability for breast cancer patients compared with other lymph node staging systems

Background

Metastatic regional lymph nodes (LN) is a strong predictor of worse long-term outcome. Therefore, different LN staging systems have been proposed in recent years. In this study, we proposed a modified lymph node ratio (mLNR) as a new lymph node staging system and then compared the prognostic performance of mLNR with American Joint Committee on Cancer N stage, lymph node ratio (LNR) and log odds of metastatic lymph nodes in breast cancer patients.

Methods

Breast cancer patients who underwent surgery between 2004 and 2012 were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Restricted cubic spline functions were calculated to characterize the association between variables and the risk of death. The Cox proportional hazards models were constructed to assess the predictive ability of different lymph node staging systems using the Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC) and Harrell’s concordance index (C-index).

Results

A total of 264,096 breast cancer patients were enrolled and 187,785 (71.1%) patients had a limited number of LNs harvested. In the limited LN harvest cohort, the prognostic performance of LNR decreased and mLNR could greatly solve this problem. In addition, among the entire cohort, mLNR modeled as a continuous value had the best predictive ability (AIC: 922021.9 and C-index: 0.727) than other lymph node staging systems.

Conclusions

The predictive ability of LNR is restricted by a limited LN harvest. However, mLNR shows superiority to LNR and other lymph node staging systems especially in a limited LN harvest cohort, making mLNR the most powerful lymph node staging systems.

•

We selected 264,096 patients, which is enough to support our conclusion.

•

We used two indexes to fully verify the fit of different lymph staging systems.

•

The mLNR improved the prognostic predictive ability best.

Log Odds of Positive Lymph Nodes is Not Superior to the Number of Positive Lymph Nodes in Predicting Overall Survival in Patients With Oral Squamous Cell Carcinomas

PURPOSE

It is unclear whether the log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) outperforms the number of positive lymph nodes (LN+) in predicting the overall survival (OS) of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients. The specific aim of this study was to compare the prognostic predictive performance of LN+ with LODDS in OSCC patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This prospective cohort study was conducted in Fujian, China, from December 2005 to January 2017. Patients' characteristics and clinicopathologic data were obtained through medical records, and follow-up data were obtained by telephone interviews. Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the association between LN+ or LODDS and OS in OSCC. Finally, the Harrell concordance index, Akaike information criterion, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve were adopted as criteria for assessing the predictive performance of lymph node models.

RESULTS

For all 706 patients, the 5-year survival rate was 65.69% (95% confidence interval, 0.61 to 0.70) and the mean age at diagnosis was 57.32 ± 11.80 years. Of the patients, 456 were men and 250 were women (ratio of 1.82:1). LN+ and LODDS were significantly associated with a poor prognosis of OSCC patients (all P values for trend < .001). Furthermore, the prognostic value of LODDS was not better than that of LN+. An interesting finding was that there was a J-shaped relationship between the number of negative lymph nodes and OS. The hazard ratio was reduced with each additional negative lymph node dissected up to 24 negative lymph nodes, with no improvement in prognosis beyond this number. Moreover, when the number of negative lymph nodes was greater than 40, the negative lymph nodes suggested a worse prognosis for OSCC patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study suggests that the discriminatory capability of LODDS was not superior to that of LN+. An interesting finding was that, when the number of negative lymph nodes was greater than 40, the predictive power of LODDS was reduced tremendously.

Lymph Node Ratio (LNR): Predicting Prognosis after Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy (NAC) in Breast Cancer Patients

Objective

Axillary lymph node status is an important prognostic factor in breast cancer (BC). Residual nodal disease burden after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is one of the important prognostic factors to determine the prognosis and in the treatment of BC. Lymph node ratio (LNR) defined as the ratio of the number of positive lymph nodes to total excised axillary lymph nodes, may be a stronger determinant of prognosis than pN in axillary nodal staging, although there is very limited data evaluating its prognostic value in the setting of NAC. In this cohort of patients, we studied the utility of LNR in predicting recurrence and overall survival (OS) after NAC.

Materials and Methods

An Institutional cancer registry was queried from 2009 to 2014 for women with axillary node-positive BC with no evidence of distant metastasis, and who received NAC followed by surgery for loco-regional treatment (axillary dissection with breast conserving surgery or total mastectomy). Patients with axillary complete response were excluded. Locoregional recurrence (LRR), distant recurrence (DR) and overall survival (OS) rates were reviewed regarding pN and LNR.

Results

A total of 179 patients were analyzed. Median follow up time was 24 [25%, 75%: 13-42] months. Patients with pN1 in comparison to pN2 and pN3 had lower rate of LRR (9% vs. 15% and 14%, respectively; p=0.41), lower rate of DR (14% vs. 25% and 27%, respectively, p=0.16) and increased rate of OS (89% vs. 79% and 78%, respectively, p=0.04). In comparison to patients with LNR >20%, patients with LNR ≤20% had lower LRR (9% vs. 14%, p=0.25), lower DR (13% vs. 27%, p=0.01) and improved OS (89% vs. 79%, p=0.02) rates. In the pN1 group, patients who had a LNR >20% had higher DR (22% vs. 14%, p=0.48) rates in comparison to patients with LNR ≤20%. In ER/PR (+) patients who had LNR ≤20% DR was 6% compared with 23% in patient who had LNR >20% (p=0.02), and in triple negative patients' OS rate was significantly better compared the LNR less/equal or more than 20% (71% vs 33%, p=0.001).

Conclusion

Our study demonstrated that LNR adds valuable information for the prognosis after NAC and this additional information should be considered when deciding further treatment and follow-up for patients who had residual tumor burden on the axilla. This observation should be tested in a larger study.

Prognostic Role of Lymph Node Positivity and Number of Lymph Nodes Needed for Accurately Staging Small-Bowel Neuroendocrine Tumors

Importance

Little information is available regarding the minimum number of lymph nodes needed to accurately stage patients when performing a mesenteric lymphadenectomy for small-bowel neuroendocrine tumors.

Objectives

To determine the prognostic role of lymph node positivity and the ideal number of lymph nodes for accurately staging patients with small-bowel neuroendocrine tumors.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This case series from the US Neuroendocrine Tumor Study Group, a collaboration among 8 US-based, academic tertiary care referral centers, obtained demographic, perioperative, and pathologic data from the group's database, Social Security Death Index, and publicly available obituaries. All patients in these institutions with small-bowel neuroendocrine tumors who underwent curative-intent surgical resection of a primary tumor between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2015, were included (n = 199). Patients with duodenal or ampullary tumors, other nonneuroendocrine concurrent malignant neoplasms, mortality of fewer than 30 days after the surgical procedure, and distant metastatic disease were excluded. Data analysis was conducted from September 1, 2017, to December 1, 2017.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Primary study outcome was recurrence-free survival. Hypothesis was generated after data collection and data entry into the US Neuroendocrine Tumor Study Group database.

Results

Of the 199 patients included, 112 (56.3%) were male and 87 (43.7%) female with a mean (SD) age of 60.3 (12.5) years and a mean (SD) body mass index of 29.5 (6.0). One hundred fifty-four patients (77.4%) had lymph node-positive disease. No difference in 3-year recurrence-free survival was found between patients with lymph node-positive and lymph node-negative disease. Patients with 4 positive lymph nodes had a worse 3-year recurrence-free survival compared with those with 1 to 3 or 0 positive lymph nodes (81.6% vs 91.4% vs 92.1%; P = .01). When examining patients with fewer than 8 resected lymph nodes, no difference in 3-year recurrence-free survival was observed among patients with 4 or more, 1 to 3, or 0 positive lymph nodes (100% vs 93.8% vs 91.7%; P = .87). Retrieval of 8 or more lymph nodes, however, accurately discriminated patients with 4 or more, 1 to 3, or 0 positive lymph nodes (3-year recurrence-free survival: 79.9% vs 89.6% vs 92.9%; P = .05).

Conclusions and Relevance

The findings from this study suggest that, for patients undergoing curative-intent resection of small-bowel neuroendocrine tumors, accurate lymph node staging requires a minimum of 8 lymph nodes for examination, and 4 or more positive lymph nodes are associated with decreased 3-year recurrence-free survival compared with 1 to 3 or 0 positive lymph nodes; a thorough regional lymphadenectomy may be critical for accurate staging and management of this disease.

The lymph node status as a prognostic factor in colon cancer: comparative population study of classifications using the logarithm of the ratio between metastatic and nonmetastatic nodes (LODDS) versus the pN-TNM classification and ganglion ratio systems

Background

pN stage in the TNM classification has been the “gold standard” for lymph node staging of colorectal carcinomas, but this system recommends collecting at least 12 lymph nodes for the staging to be reliable. However, new prognostic staging systems have been devised, such as the ganglion quotients or lymph node ratios and natural logarithms of the lymph node odds methods. The aim of this study was to establish and validate the predictive and prognostic ability of the lymph node ratios and natural logarithms of the lymph node odds staging systems and to compare them to the pN nodal classification of the TNM system in a population sample of patients with colon cancer.

Methods

A multicentric population study between January 2004 and December 2007. The inclusion criteria were that the patients were: diagnosed with colon cancer, undergoing surgery with curative intent, and had a complete anatomopathological report. We excluded patients with cancer of the rectum or caecal appendix with metastases at diagnosis. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan–Meier actuarial method and the Log-Rank test was implemented to estimate the differences between groups in terms of overall survival and disease-free survival. Multivariate survival analysis was performed using Cox regression.

Results

We analysed 548 patients. For the overall survival, the lymph node ratios and natural logarithms of the lymph node odds curves were easier to discriminate because their separation was clearer and more balanced. For disease-free survival, the discrimination between the pN0 and pN1 groups was poor, but this phenomenon was adequately corrected for the lymph node ratios and natural logarithms of the lymph node odds curves which could be sufficiently discriminated to be able to estimate the survival prognosis.

Conclusions

Lymph node ratios and natural logarithms of the lymph node odds techniques can more precisely differentiate risk subgroups from within the pN groups. Of the three methods tested in this study, the natural logarithms of the lymph node odds was the most accurate for staging non-metastatic colon cancer. Thus helping to more precisely adjust and individualise the indication for adjuvant treatments in these patients.

Increasing negative lymph node count predicts favorable OS and DSS in breast cancer with different lymph node-positive subgroups

Adequate lymph node evaluation is recommended for optimal staging in patients with malignant neoplasms including breast cancer. However, the role of negative lymph nodes (LNs) remains unclear in breast cancer according to N substage (N1, N2, and N3). In this study, for the first time, we analyzed the prognostic significance of negative LNs in breast cancer patients. A critical relationship was observed between negative LN count and survival, independent of patient characteristics and other related molecular variables including estrogen receptor (PR) status, progesterone receptor (ER) status, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status, depth of tumor invasion and degree of differentiation. This research is of great importance in providing more information about the prognosis of breast cancer by statistical analysis of negative lymph nodes and can serve as a useful supplement to the current pathological system.

Lymph node ratio as an alternative to pN staging for predicting prognosis after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer

Axillary nodal status is one of the most important prognostic factors in breast cancer. The lymph node ratio (LNR) has been suggested as an independent prognostic factor because the number of dissected and involved lymph nodes might differ across institutions. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) has been the preferred treatment method for reducing tumor mass in the breast and axillary area. However, NAC can reduce total number of excised lymph nodes compared with upfront surgery. Therefore, an emerging question is whether axillary nodal status and LNR following NAC can accurately predict prognosis. We evaluated the prognostic value of axillary nodal status and LNR after NAC. A total of 236 patients were enrolled. Patients were divided into four groups according to the following cut-off values for LNR: 0 (n = 107), 0.01-0.20 (n = 68), 0.21-0.65 (n = 50) and >0.65 (n = 11). Pathologic complete responses were observed in 16.9% of the overall cohort. In univariate analysis, pathologic N stage was a significant prognostic factor of disease free survival (DFS, p = 0.013) and overall survival (OS, p = 0.004). However, in multivariate analysis, hormone receptor status (p = 0.043) and LNR (p = 0.028) were significantly associated with DFS and LNR (p = 0.017) showed statistical significance for OS; however, pathologic N stage was no longer significantly associated with DFS or OS. Traditional nodal staging has been accepted as an important prognostic factor; however, our result indicated that the nodal ratio could be an alternative to pN staging as a prognostic factor after NAC in breast cancer.

Development and validation of a prognostic nomogram based on the log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) for breast cancer

BACKGROUND

To evaluate the prognostic effect of log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) and develop a nomogram for survival prediction in breast cancer patients at the time of surgery.

RESULTS

LODDS was an independent risk factor for cancer-related death in breast cancer (hazard ratio: 1.582, 95%CI: 1.190-2.104). Menopausal status, tumor size, pathological lymph node staging, estrogen receptor status and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 status were also included in the nomogram. The calibration plots indicated optimal agreement between the nomogram prediction and actual observation. Discrimination of nomogram was superior to the seventh edition TNM staging system [C-index: 0.745 vs. 0.721 (p = 0.03) in training cohort; 0.796 vs. 0.726 (p < 0.01) in validation cohort].

METHODS

We retrospectively evaluated 2023 breast cancer patients from Jan 2002 to Dec 2008 at our center. The cohort was randomly divided into training cohort and validation cohort. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify prognostic factors, and nomogram was established using Cox regression model in training cohort. External validation of the nomogram was performed in the validation cohort.

CONCLUSIONS

The LODDS is an independent prognostic indicator in breast cancer and the novel nomogram can provide individual prediction of cancer-specific survival and help prognostic assessment for breast cancer patients.

Using a novel T-lymph node ratio model to evaluate the prognosis of nonmetastatic breast cancer patients who received preoperative radiotherapy followed by mastectomy: An observational study

We aimed to investigate the prognostic value of postpathological characters in nonmetastatic breast cancer (NMBC) patients who received preoperative radiotherapy (PRT) followed by mastectomy (MAST).We conducted retrospective analyses using the data collected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program of the National Cancer Institute. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify prognostic factors. Disease-specific survival was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier curve and validated by log rank test. The discriminations of independent risk factors and staging systems were compared by the area under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) and validated by Harrell concordance index (bootstrapping algorithm). Akaike information criterion (AIC) was applied to compare the difference of model.One thousand three hundred fifty NMBC patients who had received PRT followed by MAST from 1988 to 2013 were included in the study. We found the metastatic lymph node ratio (mLNR) staging was a superior indicator than pN staging. Thus, we proposed a T-lymph node ratio (T-NR) staging system with simplified-T categories (T0-3 and T4) and the mLNR staging. The novel T-NR staging system provided larger AUC (P = .024, .008, respectively) and the smaller AIC (P < .001) value than American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system.The novel T-NR staging system performed more accurate survival prediction and better model fitness for NMBC patients who receive PRT followed by MAST, it may provide a wide applicability in clinical decision-making.

Comparative Quantitative Lymph Node Assessment in Localized Esophageal Cancer Patients After R0 Resection With and Without Neoadjuvant Chemoradiation Therapy

INTRODUCTION

The effects of neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy on lymph node retrieval during esophagectomy for patients with esophageal cancer are unclear. The aim of this study was to quantify lymph node retrieval after R0 esophagectomy and to assess its impact on overall survival in induction therapy patients.

METHODS

One hundred seventy-four consecutive patients underwent esophagectomy with or without induction therapy from 2008 to 2015 for esophageal cancer. Total lymph nodes, positive lymph nodes, and lymph node ratios were compared between two groups of patients: those treated with either upfront surgery or those treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy followed by surgery. Comparisons were made using Student's t test. Overall survival was obtained and compared using Kaplan Meier survival curves.

RESULTS

Total lymph node counts were less in the induction therapy group (p = 0.027), while positive lymph node counts and lymph node ratios did not differ between groups (p = 0.262 and p = 0.310, respectively). In the neoadjuvant chemoradiation followed by surgery group, overall survival was significantly shorter for patients who had any positive lymph nodes in the pathologic specimen (p = 0.0065).

CONCLUSIONS

Total lymph node counts were significantly lower in the induction therapy group, while positive lymph node counts and lymph node ratios did not differ from the upfront surgery group. Although overall survival was not different between groups, it was decreased within the induction therapy cohort among those who had any positive lymph nodes retrieved at surgery. This study confirms that unstratified gross lymph node counts do not substantially relate to prognosis in the heterogeneous population of locally advanced esophageal cancer patients who may or may not have had neoadjuvant chemoradiation.

Prognostic performance of three lymph node staging schemes for patients with Siewert type II adenocarcinoma of esophagogastric junction

The prognostic performance of different lymph node staging schemes for adenocarcinoma of esophagogastric junction (AEG) remains controversial. The objective of the present study was to compare the prognostic efficacy of the number of lymph node metastases (LNMs), the positive lymph node ratio (LNR) and the log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS). Patients diagnosed with Siewert type II AEG were included from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Harrell's C-index statistic, Schemper's proportion of explained variation (PEV), the Akaike information criterion (AIC) and restricted cubic spine analyses were adopted to assess the predictive accuracy of LNM, LNR and LODDS. A total of 1302 patients with post-surgery Siewert type II AEG were included. LNM, LNR and LODDS all showed significant prognostic value in the multivariate Cox regression analyses. LODDS performed higher predictive accuracy than LNM and LNR, with relatively higher C-index, higher Schemper's PEV value and lower AIC value. For patients with no nodes involved, LODDS still performed significantly discriminatory utility. LODDS showed more accurate prognostic performance than LNM and LNR for post-surgery Siewert type II AEG, and it could help to detect survival heterogeneity for patients with no positive lymph nodes involved.

Prognostic and Predictive Effects of Positive Lymph Node Number or Ratio in NSCLC

In the eighth TNM staging system proposal for NSCLC recently, classification of N stage is based on anatomical position of positive lymph nodes. We aimed to expand the sample volume to identify the value of positive lymph node number or ratio in prognosis and predictive effect for postoperative radiation. Clinicopathological characters of 109026 NSCLC patients were collected from the SEER Database. Kaplan-Meier curves and cox regression methods were used for survival analysis. Compared with positive lymph node number equal to 0, 1–3 and >3 groups were independent prognostic factors (1–3: HR 2.856, p < 0.001; >3: HR 3.358, p < 0.001), so as the 0–50% and >50% positive lymph node ratio groups (0–50%: HR 2.124, p < 0.001; >50%: HR 3.358, p < 0.001). And in the groups of N2&positive lymph node number ≥4 and N2&positive lymph node ratio >50%, postoperative radiation related to positive prognosis of NSCLC patients. In conclusion, positive lymph node number or ratio was associated with survival as an independent indicator in NSCLC. They also had predictive effects for postoperative radiation, while N nodal stage not.