Abstract

Objective: This study was designed to assess the prognostic value of lymph node ratio (LNR) in patients with nonmetastatic colorectal cancer treated with radical resection.

Material and Methods: The characteristic and pathologic parameters of 280 patients operated on for nonmetastatic colorectal cancer at our service were recorded retrospectively. Patients were stratified into 4 groups according to the LNR quartiles of 1/12, ¼, ½ and 1. Distribution of demographic data and probability tables were made by ANOVA and χ2 tests. The cumulative survival ratios for LNR, N stage and TNM stage were calculated by the Kaplan Meier method and survival difference between groups were calculated by the log rank test.

Results: There was a statistically significant correlation ratio between metastatic lymph node count and LNR. In 173 of all patients (61.8%) fewer than 12 lymph nodes were harvested. One hundred sixtysix (59.3%) patients were evaluated as N0, 79 (28.2%) were N1 and 35 (12.5%) were N2. The number of patients in 4 groups of LNR were 174 (62.1%), 72 (25.7%), 22 (7.9%) and 12 (4.3% ) respectively. Five year survival ratios were 82,8% in LNR1, 69.4% in LNR2, 58.3% in LNR3 and 50% in LNR4. The difference for survival times and ratios between these groups were significantly difference (p=0.001).

Conclusion: LNR may help physicians to decide the adequate treatment and estimate the prognosis in patients with inadequate lymphadenectomy.