Effect of lymph node density in the prognosis of patients after pancreatic cancer resection

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Abstract

Background
Pancreatic cancer has the worst prognosis of all gastrointestinal malignancies. Lymph node metastasis is a powerful determinant of prognosis. The ratio between the number of affected lymph nodes and the total number of examined lymph nodes is known as lymph node density (LND). LND has proved clinically important in other gastrointestinal malignancies. Our main objective was to identify the role of LND in the prognosis of patients after pancreatic cancer resection.
Patients and methods
Our study included 30 patients who underwent pancreatic cancer resection from 2010 to 2015. Pathological reports and medical records were retrieved retrospectively for tumor-specific data and patient-specific data (age, sex, and presence of diabetes mellitus). LND was calculated as the number of metastatic lymph nodes divided by the total number of lymph nodes examined. Survival time was calculated from the date of operation to the date of death.
Results
Patients with LND less than 0.2 have a probability of 1-year survival of 98% and 3-year survival of 62%, which is better than those with LND more than 0.2 (=0.001).
Conclusion
LND was significantly related to survival outcome after pancreatic cancer resection, as patients with LND more than or equal to 0.2 displayed a poor prognosis.

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