[The role of a signal lymph node in surgical treatment of gastric cancer].

A method of intraoperative mapping of the lymph outflow tracts was used in 32 patients for a detection of the signal lymph node in gastric cancer using a lymphotropic stain BLUE PATENT V. The test-sensitivity was 78%. The intraoperative mapping of the lymph outflow tracts allows the volume and zone dissection in operations for gastric cancer to be exactly determined. The detection of the "signal" lymph node and its immunohistochemical investigation increases the accuracy of postoperative staging of gastric cancer. The absence of metastases in the signal lymph node in gastric cancer is not a determining criterion for refusal to perform lymphodissection in D2 volume.