@article{3148401,
    title = "Lymph node harvesting in colorectal carcinoma specimens",
    author = "Lagoudianakis, Emmanuel and Pappas, Apostolos and Koronakis, Nikolaos and and Tsekouras, Dimitrios and Dallianoudis, John and Kontogianni, and Panagiota and Papanikolaou, Dimitrios and Chrysikos, John and Karavitis, and George and Markogiannakis, Haridimos and Fills, Konstantinos and and Manouras, Andreas",
    journal = "Tumori Journal",
    year = "2011",
    volume = "97",
    number = "1",
    pages = "74-78",
    publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",
    doi = "10.1177/030089161109700114",
    keywords = "lymph nodes; colorectal cancer; tumor location",
    abstract = "Introduction. Adequate lymph node evaluation is an important determinant
of prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer. Current guidelines
recommend evaluation of at least 12 lymph nodes; however, a significant
number of patients fail to meet these criteria.
Aim. To investigate the factors that influence adequate recovery and
evaluation of lymph nodes in colorectal cancer
Methods. We retrospectively analyzed 454 consecutive cases of colorectal
cancer surgically treated from September 2000 to September 2006.
Univariate and multivariate linear and logistic regression analysis was
used to study the effect of various factors in lymph node recovery.
Results. The number of lymph nodes retrieved ranged from 0 to 62 with a
median of 13 nodes. Overall, 189 (41.6%) patients had fewer than 12
nodes removed. Patient age, tumor stage, location and size were
associated with lymph node retrieval. Multivariable regression revealed
that the aforementioned variables, including gender and hospital type,
explained 17% of the observed variance of the lymph node number.
Conclusion. Patient and tumor characteristics, although important, are
only partly responsible for the variation of lymph node yield. Quality
of surgical resection and/or the thoroughness of examination of the
tissue by the pathologist might explain the wider proportion of this
variance. Training in colorectal node evaluation could help to improve
the quality of cancer care. Free full text available at
wwww.tumorionline.it"
}