ABSTRACT
Objective To analyse the risk factors for lymph node metastasis of early colorectal cancer and the therapeutic indication for endoscopy.Methods The clinical data of the 269 early colorectal cancer patients who underwent surgical treatments between January 2009 and December 2013 in the West China hospital of Sichuan University were analyzed retrospectively.Pathologic features were compared between different histological types and investigated by univariate and multivariate analysis of their possible risk factors for lymph node metastasis.Results Univariate analysis showed that tumor size (P =0.029),depth of tumor invasion (P =0.006),histological type (P =0.000) and lymphatic involvement (P =0.035) were correlated with lymph node metastasis.Multivariate analysis revealed that tumor size (OR =5.385,95％ CI:1.156-25.075,P =0.032)and histological type (OR =5.145,95％ CI:1.553-17.053,P =0.007) were independent risk factorsfor lymph node metastasis.Comprehensive analysis showed that lymph node metastasis could not be found in patients with tumor invading the mucous layer.However,lymph node metastasis occurred if the tumor invaded the submucous layer.The larger and less differentiated tumor was,the higher occurrence of lymph node matastasis would be (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Endoscopic resection is recommended for those with early colorectal cancer localized in the mucous layer and without lymph node metastasis.It is recommended that patients with submucosal carcinomas undergo a preoperative endoscopic ultrasonography or pathological screening for the most appropriate surgical treatment,as the larger and the lower differentiated the tumor is,the higher chance the lymphatic metastasis is.