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The size of regional lymph nodes does not correlate with the presence or absence of metastasis in lymph nodes in rectal cancer
Author(s) -
Kotanagi Hitoshi,
Fukuoka Takemi,
Shibata Yutaka,
Yoshioka Toshiaki,
Aizawa Osamu,
Saito Yuri,
Tur Gennady E.,
Koyama Kenji
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of surgical oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.201
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1096-9098
pISSN - 0022-4790
DOI - 10.1002/jso.2930540414
Subject(s) - lymph , medicine , colorectal cancer , lymph node , metastasis , lymph node metastasis , pathology , cancer
We evaluated the relationship between the size of regional lymph nodes and the presence of metastasis in them in rectal cancer. Of 1,064 lymph nodes in 46 specimens, 133 (13%) were found to have metastases. A half of the positive nodes and most of the negative ones were less than 5 mm in diameter. Therefore, we must find lymph nodes smaller than 5 mm in diameter for assessment of lymph node metastasis. Although positive nodes were larger than negative ones, there was no significant difference. However, when comparing the size of lymph nodes in relation to their location, the epi‐ and pararectal lymph nodes larger than 10 mm in diameter were highly suggestive of metastases, but the size of the lymph node was not a reliable indicator of lymph node metastases in other situations. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.