Open AccessOptimal examined lymph node count in node-negative colon cancer should be determined
Author(s) -
Haihua Feng,
Zejian Lyu,
Weijun Liang,
Guanfu Cai,
Zhenru Deng,
Meiyu Jiang,
Deqing Wu,
Yong Li
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
future oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.857
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1744-8301
pISSN - 1479-6694
DOI - 10.2217/fon-2021-0113
Subject(s) - medicine , proportional hazards model , colorectal cancer , lymph node , cutoff , confounding , hazard ratio , oncology , covariate , survival analysis , statistics , cancer , mathematics , confidence interval , physics , quantum mechanics
Background: We aimed to investigate the association between optimal examined lymph node (ELNs) and overall survival to determine the optimal cutoff point. Methods: Cox models and locally weighted scatterplot smoothing were used to fit hazard ratios and explore an optimal cutoff point based on the Chow test. Results: Overall survival increased significantly with the corresponding increase in the number of ELNs after adjusting for covariates. In Chow's test, the optimal cutoff point for node-negative colon cancer was 15, which was validated in both cohorts after controlling for confounders (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database: hazard ratio: 0.701, p < 0.001; single-center: HR: 0.563; p = 0.031). Conclusions: We conservatively suggest that the optimal number of ELNs for prognostic stratification is 15 in node-negative colon cancer.