Table 3.
Prognostic relevance of lymph node harvest in stage II and III colon cancers
| First author | Year | n | N+ | Insuff rate | pT3/4 | Endpoints | Cut off | Prognostic stage II | Prognostic stage III |
| Prandi1 | 2002 | 3491 | 48% | 501% | n.m. | OS, PFS | 8-12 (RR = 0.46) vs 13-17 (RR = 0.76) vs > 17 (RR = 0.79) | Yes | No |
| Le Voyer2 | 2003 | 3411 | 81% | NA | 89% | CsS | N1: ≥ 12 vs > 10 vs > 40; N2: > 35; N0: ≥ 12 vs ≥ 12 vs > 20 and < 35 | Yes | Yes |
| Jestin | 2004 | 3735 | 31% | NA | NA | OS | ≥ 12 | Yes | /3 |
| Johnson | 2006 | 20702 | 100% | NA | 92% | 5yCsS | < 4 neg LN vs > 12 neg LN | / | Yes |
| Kelder | 2009 | 2281 | 32.4% | 79% | 79% | 5yOS | < 6; 6-11; > 11 | Yes | N |
| Tsikitis | 2009 | 329 | 100% | 49% | NA | CsS/DFS | > 12 | / | N |
| Vather | 2009 | 4309 | NA | NA | NA | 5yOS | 4 LN wide steps | Yes | Yes |
| Dillman | 2009 | 574 | NA | NA | NA | OS | ≥ 12 | Yes | No |
| Shanmugam | 2011 | 490 | 46.9% | 24% | NA | 5yCsS/CsS | ≥ 20 | Yes | Yes |
| Chang | 2012 | 9644 | 41% | 27.7% | 80.2% | 5yOS | ≥ 12 | Yes | Yes |
| Gleisner | 2013 | 154208 | 34%4 | NA | 69.4% | OS | Linear risk reduction up to 25 LN in N- and up 10 LN in N+ | Yes | Yes |
| Khan | 2014 | 194459 | NA | 41% | NA | CsS | ≥ 12 LN | Yes | Yes |
1
Intergroup Trial INT-0089;
2
INTAC-Trail;
3
Lymph node ratio is prognostic;
4
Mean out of two collectives. NA: No available data; 5yOS: 5 year overall survival; 5yDFS: 5 year disease-free survival; OS: Overall survival; CsS: Cancer specific survival; HR: Hazard rate; ACT: Adjuvant chemotherapy; LN: Lymph node; PFS: Progression-free survival; DFS: Disease-free survival; N-: Node negative; N+: Node positive.