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Research Article: Association between the number of retrieved lymph nodes and demographic/tumour-related characteristics in colorectal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Date Published: 2023-12-22

Abstract:
Objective Clinical practice guidelines recommend retrieving at least 12 lymph nodes for correct staging in colorectal cancer. However, it is difficult to retrieve adequate lymph nodes because of various factors. We aimed to evaluate the association between the number of retrieved lymph nodes and demographic/tumour-related characteristics in colorectal cancer. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis of primary studies. Data sources PubMed, Embase, Cochrane and Web of Science were searched from January 2016 to June 2023. Eligibility criteria for selecting studies Studies that evaluated the association between retrieved lymph nodes and demographic/tumour-related characteristics in colorectal cancer were included. Data extraction and synthesis OR with 95% conference intervals was extracted and pooled. Results A total of 54 studies containing 2?05?821 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed that fewer nodes were retrieved from elderly patients (OR=0.70, 95%?CI (0.54 to 0.90), p=0.005), and from tumours located in the left colon than in the right colon (OR=0.43, 95%?CI (0.33 to 0.56), p<0.001). More lymph nodes were obtained from females than males (OR=1.15, 95%?CI (1.04 to 1.28), p=0.006), from the advanced T stage (T3+T4) than T1+T2 stage (OR=1.57, 95%?CI (1.25 to 1.97), p<0.001) and from the N2 stage than N0 stage (OR=1.32, 95%?CI (1.15 to 1.51), p<0.001). Body mass index, ethnicity, N1 stage, M stage, tumour differentiation and lymph–vascular invasion were not significantly associated with the lymph node yield. Conclusions The study results suggest that clinicians have an increased opportunity to retrieve sufficient lymph nodes for accurate pathological staging to guide treatment decisions in patients with colorectal cancer who are young, female, with tumours located in the right colon, advanced T stage and N2 stage.

Introduction:
Colorectal cancer is a major cause of cancer-related mortality. According to Global Cancer Statistics 2020, there were approximately 1.9?million new colorectal cancer cases and 935?000 deaths with colorectal cancer. 1 The 5-year relative survival rate for colorectal cancer ranges from 91% for localised disease to 14% for distant disease. 2 Accurate tumour node metastasis (TNM) staging is essential for the treatment decisions and prognosis of colorectal cancer. In addition, features such as tumour budding,…

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