Abstract
This study evaluated the influence of quantitative factors of metastatic lymph nodes, such as the number of metastasized nodes and frequency of metastasis, on the prognosis after curative gastrectomy in 733 patients. As a result, only in n2 cases could these factors be regarded as prognostic limiting factors. On the other hand, an evident difference in survival rates in n1, n3 cases could not be found according to these factors. The number of positive second regional lymph nodes was considered more useful to predict the outcome of n2 cases than the simple addition of metastasized nodes. The frequency of lymph node metastasis (F) reflected the outcome of n2 cases very closely. The five-year survival rates according to F-value were as follows: F<10% 62.9%, 10%≤F<10% 46.1%, 20%≤F<50% 29.7%, F≥50% 7.1%. As a result of univariate analysis of the postoperative survival rate, these quantitative factors proved to limit the prognosis of n2 cases the same as or more than depth, and they seemed to be independent factors.
