The prognostic influence of D2 lymphadenectomy with para-aortic lymph nodal dissection for gastric cancer in N3 stage / 中华外科杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To elucidate the necessity of para-aortic lymph nodal dissection in D2 lymphadenectomy for gastric cancer in N3 stage.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 278 gastric cancer patients staged N3 who underwent gastrectomy between January 2003 and December 2007 were enrolled. There were 180 male and 98 female patients, and the patients' age were 26-93 years (median was 61 years). All patients had undergone surgical treatment. There were R0 resection in 246 cases and R1 resection in 32 cases. Lymph node dissection included D1 lymphadenectomy with 125 cases, D2 lymphadenectomy with 109 cases and D2+para-aortic lymph nodal dissection(PAND) with 44 cases. The surgical approach were total gastrectomy (98 cases) and subtotal gastrectomy (180 cases). Potential prognostic factors were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The lymph node metastasis of each station was high in gastric cancer patients staged N3 and 34.1% patients had the para-aortic lymph nodal metastasis. Borrmann type (HR = 1.350, 95%CI: 1.018-1.790, P = 0.037), curability (HR = 1.580, 95%CI: 1.076-2.322, P = 0.020), depth of invasion (HR = 1.697, 95%CI: 1.005-2.864, P = 0.048), metastatic lymph node ratio (HR = 1.631, 95%CI: 1.261-2.111, P = 0.000), extranodal metastasis (HR = 1.336, 95%CI: 1.027-1.738, P = 0.031), postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy (HR = 1.312, 95%CI: 1.015-1.696, P = 0.038), extent of lymphadenectomy (HR = 1.488 and 2.114, P = 0.054 and 0.000) and number of retrieved lymph node (HR = 1.503 and 2.112, P = 0.025 and 0.000) were found to be factors correlated to overall survival. In multivariate analysis, only Borrmann type (HR = 1.399, 95%CI: 1.050-1.863, P = 0.022), metastatic lymph node ratio (HR = 1.353, 95%CI: 1.016-1.802, P = 0.039) and extent of lymphadenectomy (HR = 1.725, 95%CI: 1.111-2.678, P = 0.015) were independent prognostic factors for gastric cancer patients in N3 stage.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Patients in N3 stage should at least have 30 lymph node examined. D2 lymph node dissection plus PAND may improve the overall survival for gastric cancer patients in N3 stage.</p>