Number of lymph node metastases and its prognostic significance in early gastric cancer: a multicenter Italian study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study was aimed at evaluating the prognostic significance of the number of metastatic nodes in early gastric cancer (EGC). METHODS: In this multicenter retrospective study 652 cases of resected EGC were analyzed. We searched for lymph node metastases-associated risk factors and to identify subsets of patients with different prognosis according to the number of involved nodes. RESULTS: Nodal involvement was observed in 14.1%. A significant correlation was found between the presence of node metastases and tumor size (RR 1.34, P = 0.001), submucosal invasion (RR: 3.14, P = 0.007), Lauren diffuse/mixed type (RR: 4.88, P 15) even in N0 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Nodal involvement confirmed to be a significant prognostic factor. In view of the trend to a lower risk of recurrence when more than 15 nodes were retrieved and the better staging achieved we consider D2 lymphadenectomy the treatment of choice