Study on survival analysis of lymph node metastasis in carcinoma of thoracic esophageal cancer

Objective To study the effect of positive lymph node number on the survival of patients with esophageal carcinoma. Methods From July 1995 to July 2005, a total of 11,447 resected lymph nodes were obtained from 1140 patients who underwent curative resection of the primary tumor with systematic lymphadenectomy at Shanxi cancer hospital. The survivals were analysed by life tables and Kaplan-Meier methods, the related factors of lymph node metastasis were assessed by Chi-square test. Results The number of positive lymph nodes was negatively related to survival rates of esophageal carcinoma. According to the number of lymph nodes resected (≥8 nodes versus <8 nodes), there was significant difference in metastatic lymph node ratio. Conclusion The number of positive lymph node can reflect the prognosis of patients better. The authors suggest that the modification of the tumor-lymphnode-metastasis (TNM) staging classification (TNM) to include the number of positive lymph nodes in the N1 category. Key words: Esophageal neoplasms;  Surgical prcedures operative;  Lymphatic metastasis;  Prognosis;  Survival analysis