Occurrence of No.12 lymph node micrometastasis in gastric cancer and its effect on clinicopathological parameters and prognosis*

Abstract

Abstract Objective This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of No.12 lymph node micrometastasis in patients with gastric cancer and its relationship with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis. Methods A cohort of 160 gastric cancer patients who underwent gastrectomy and lymph node dissection were selected as the research subjects. The immunohistochemical method was used to detect the micrometastasis of No.12 lymph node sections with negative routine pathological detection. At the same time, the clinical data of patients were collected and followed up to analyze the clinical significance of No.12 lymph node micrometastasis. Results A total of 370 No.12 lymph nodes were detected in 160 surgical specimens. Among 160 patients, 27 patients were found to be positive for No.12 lymph nodes during routine pathological examination, with a positive rate of 16.8%. A total of 308 lymph nodes from 133 patients with negative routine pathological examinations were stained by immunohistochemistry. A total of 17 lymph nodes from 10 patients were found to be positive. The results showed that 37 of the 160 patients had No.12 lymph node metastasis, and the positive rate was 23.1%, which was 6.3% higher than that of routine pathological examination. Logistic multivariate analyses showed that the depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis in other groups, and clinical stage were independent risk factors for No.12 lymph node metastasis. The average follow-up time was 79.3 months, and the overall median survival time was 47.9 months. The survival time of the No.12 lymph node-negative group was 67.3 ± 2.5 Â months, the median survival time was 73.2 months; the survival time of the No.12 lymph node-positive group was (28.4 ± 5.4) months, and the median survival time was 31.3 months. The survival time of the No.12 lymph node-negative group was significantly longer than that of the positive group (χ2 = 12.75, P = 0.000). Conclusion No.12 lymph node micrometastasis is a signal affecting the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer. Standardized dissection of No.12 lymph nodes is recommended for patients with gastric cancer who can undergo radical resection.