Risk factors for regional lymph node metastasis in rectal neuroendocrine tumors: a population-based study.

INTRODUCTION

The identification of risk factors for regional lymph node (r-LN) metastasis in rectal neuroendocrine tumors (R-NETs) remains challenging. Our objective was to investigate the risk factors associated with patients diagnosed with R-NETs exhibiting r-LN metastasis.

METHODS

Patient information was obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, complemented by data from the West China Hospital (WCH) databases. The construction cohort comprised patients diagnosed with R-NETs from the SEER database, while cases from the WCH database were utilized as the validation cohort. A novel nomogram was developed to predict the probability of r-LN metastasis, employing a logistic regression model.

RESULTS

Univariate analysis identified four independent risk factors associated with poor r-LN metastasis: age (HR = 1.027, < 0.05), grade (HR = 0.010, < 0.05), T stage (HR = 0.010, < 0.05), and tumor size (HR = 0.005, p < 0.05). These factors were selected as predictors for nomogram construction.

DISCUSSION

The novel nomogram serves as a reliable tool for predicting the risk of r-LN metastasis, providing clinicians with valuable assistance in identifying high-risk patients and tailoring individualized treatments.