Table 3. Survival benefit based on the AJCC TNM stages and compliance with either the current NCCN guidelines (≥15 nodes) or with the NCDB Joinpoint (≥29 nodes).

AJCC TNM stages		Stage IA	Stage IB		Stage IIA		Stage IIB		Stage IIIA		Stage IIIB		Stage IIIC
Compliance with the NCCN guidelines (≥15 nodes retrieved)
	Median survival (mon)	126.95±9.56	94.26±4.83		91.17±3.65		42.58±1.82		28.12±0.97		22.67±0.79		20.01±1.43
	P	<0.001		0.019		<0.001		<0.001		<0.001		0.029
Compliance with the current NCDB Joinpoint (≥29 nodes retrieved)
	Median survival (mon)	127.51±33.82	126.26±26.13		114.46±22.95		52.93±4.34		43.22±3.09		25.13±1.97		23.56±4.26
	P	0.116		0.340		<0.001		0.030		<0.001		0.881

AJCC = American Joint Committee on Cancer; TNM = tumor, node, and metastasis; NCCN = National Comprehensive Cancer Network; NCBD = National Cancer Database.