119P - Clinicopathological features and roles of lymph node metastases in gastric cancer: A single-center retrospective study in China

Background

Gastric cancer (GC) remains the fifth most common malignancy worldwide accounting for over 1 million new cases and an estimated 769,000 deaths by 2020. Nearly 40% of the global GC cases occur in China, and the 5-year overall survival rate is less than 50%. Lymph node metastases (LNM) is an independent risk factor for prognosis and determines which treatments can be used in GC. LNM plays a crucial gateway role in cancer spread, but the underlying roles of LNM remain controversial, and there is no worldwide consensus. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the clinical perspective and significance of LNM in GC via a retrospective study.

Methods

This study was performed on 129 patients who had gastric cancer with lymphadenectomy for the radical cure, whose specimens were obtained during surgery. Dissected lymph nodes were collected in groups and histopathological studies were performed to detect the lymph node metastasis and metastatic lymph node ratio (MLR). We also analyzed the relationships between rates of lymph node metastasis and tumor diameters, tumor localization, infiltrating depth, histological category, Borrmann typing, and so on.

Results

Among 129 patients with gastric cancer, lymph node metastases were found in 80 patients (62.02%) with a total collection of 3295 lymph nodes and an average of 25.54 lymph nodes per patient. The number of lymph nodes with metastasis was 889. Lymph node metastasis was associated with tumor size, the depth of invasion, Borrmann type, location and histological type. There were correlations between the total number of lymph nodes from 129 gastric cancer patients, metastatic lymph node numbers and MLR. Analysis of the survival curve showed that the survival time and rate had a negative correlation with the TNM stage and MLR.

Conclusions

According to the clinical and pathological factors, the characteristics of lymph node metastasis by groups and stations in different areas, and properly choosing and extending the extent of lymph node resection, the objective of the radical cure for gastric cancer could be achieved individually when radical lymphadenectomy is performed.

Clinical trial identification

Editorial acknowledgement

Legal entity responsible for the study

The authors.

Funding

Technology Innovation Guidance Special Program of Shaanxi Province (2022QFY01-08), Key Research and Development Program of Shaanxi Province (2021SF-288), Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi Province (2020JQ-950, 2022JM-570), Health Research Program of Shaanxi Province (2022D002).

Disclosure

All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.