Table 1.

Lymph Node Groups and Station Numbers.

Reproduced with permission from the Japanese Society for Cancer of the Colon and Rectum and Kanehara & Co., Ltd.: Japanese Classification of Colorectal, Appendiceal, and Anal Carcinoma- the 3rd English edition, 2019.

	Superior mesenteric artery	Inferior mesenteric artery	Iliac artery
Pericolic/perirectal lymph nodes	Lymph nodes along the marginal arteries and near the bowel wall • Pericolic lymph nodes (201, 211, 221)	Lymph nodes along the marginal arteries, near the bowel wall, and along the terminal sigmoid artery • Pericolic lymph nodes (231, 241: 241-1, 241-2, 241-t) Lymph nodes along the superior rectal artery • Perirectal lymph nodes (251)	Lymph nodes medial to the pelvic nerve plexus along the middle rectal artery. • Perirectal lymph nodes (251)
Intermediate lymph nodes	Lymph nodes along the ileocolic, right colic, and middle colic arteries. • Ileocolic nodes (202) • Right colic nodes (212) • Right middle colic nodes (222-rt) • Left middle colic nodes (222-lt)	Lymph nodes along the left colic and sigmoid arteries and the inferior mesenteric artery between the origin of the left colic artery of the terminal sigmoid artery • Left colic nodes (232) • Sigmoid colic nodes (242: 242-1, 242-2) • Inferior mesenteric trunk nodes (252)
Main lymph nodes	Lymph nodes at the origin of the ileocolic, right colic, and middle colic arteries • Ileocolic root nodes (203) • Right colic root nodes (213) • Middle colic root nodes (223)	Lymph nodes along the inferior mesenteric artery from the origin of the inferior mesenteric artery to that of the left colic artery • Inferior mesenteric root nodes (253)
Lateral lymph nodes			Lymph nodes along the internal iliac arteries and along the obturator vessels and nerves • Proximal internal iliac nodes (263P) • Distal internal iliac nodes (263D) • Obturator nodes (283) Lymph nodes along the common iliac external iliac, and median sacral arteries • Common iliac nodes (273) • External iliac nodes (293) • Lateral sacral nodes (260) • Median sacral nodes (270) • Aortic bifurcation nodes (280)
Downward lymph nodes			• Inguinal nodes (292)
Lymph nodes proximal to the main lymph nodes	Lymph nodes at the origin of the superior mesenteric artery and along the aorta • Superior mesenteric arterial root nodes (214) • Para-aortic nodes (216)	Lymph nodes along the aorta • Para-aortic nodes (216)
Other lymph nodes	• Sub-pyloric nodes (206) • Gastroepiploic nodes (204) • Splenic hilar nodes (210)

Note 1: The sigmoid artery commonly comprises the first, second, and terminal arteries, with pericolic lymph nodes recorded as 241-1, 242-2, and 241-t, respectively, and intermediate lymph nodes recorded as 242-1 and 242-2.

Note 2: Iliac arterial lymph nodes are recorded according to whether they are to the left or right (right = rt and left = lt); e.g., right distal internal iliac lymph nodes are recorded as rt263D.

Note 3: In anal cancer, 292 is treated as intermediate lymph nodes.