The Lymph Node Ratio Is an Independent Prognostic Factor in Esophageal Cancer Patients Who Receive Curative Surgery.

BACKGROUND/AIM: We investigated the clinical impact of the lymph node ratio (LNR) on overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) in esophageal cancer patients who underwent curative surgery.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

One hundred twenty patients who underwent curative surgery for esophageal cancer between 2005 and 2017 were included in this study. The LNR was defined as the ratio of the number of metastatic lymph nodes (LNs) to the total number of harvested LNs.

RESULTS

A lymph node ratio of 10% was regarded as the optimal critical point for classification based on the overall survival rate. The 3-year and 5-year OS rates were 65.5% and 57.0%, respectively, in the LNR<10% group, and 11.8% and 0% in the LNR≥10% group; the difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). The 3-year and 5-year RFS rates were 52.6% and 44.6%, respectively, in the LNR<10% group, and 0% and 0% in the LNR>10% group; the difference was also statistically significant (p<0.001). When comparing the sites of first relapse, the incidence of distant lymph node metastasis in the LNR>10% group was significantly higher than that in the LNR<10% group.

CONCLUSION

The LNR was a risk factor for both OS and RFS in patients who underwent curative surgery for esophageal cancer.