Impact of micrometastasis in pathologically negative lymph node on staging and prognosis of non-small cell lung cancers / 中华肿瘤杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the influence of micrometastasis in lymph node on staging and prognosis of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In 39 NSCLC patients, micrometastasis in pathologically negative lymph nodes were tested through immunohistochemical cytokeratin (CK) analysis and the relationship between CK(+) and staging, survival were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In these 39 patients, the survival of CK(+) and CK(-) patients were 32 months and 48 months respectively (P = 0.0178). Multivariate analysis of Cox regression model showed clinical stage (P = 0.0288) and relapse or metastasis (P = 0.0053) affected the prognosis while micrometastasis in lymphnodes (P = 0.7740) did not.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The detection of micrometastasis in the lymphnodes may serve as a supplement to the present staging system for lung cancer. Even though the prognosis of patients with micrometastasis being poorer than those without, micrometastasis in the lymph nodes should not be regarded as an independent prognostic factor.</p>