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Basic Aspect: Methodology

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Lymph Node Metastasis in Gastrointestinal Cancer

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Abstract

Initially, micrometastases in the regional lymph nodes (lymph node [LN] micrometastases; LNMs) were detected by immunohistochemical analysis of epithelial markers, and the prognostic significance of LNMs has been a major focus for many years. In addition, recent technological innovations have enabled us to detect LNMs more accurately, with some techniques even showing promising applications in the clinical setting. In this chapter, we will review the methodology to detect LNMs, as follows. First, we will discuss the histopathological method to detect LNMs including conventional hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining and immunohistochemical analysis. Next, we will describe methods for detection of cancer-associated mRNA and review quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and the reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) method, which are currently being used in the clinical setting. Third, genetic or epigenetic techniques to detect LNMs will be discussed, and we will introduce methods to detect LNMs by cancer-specific events, such as mutations and methylation. Finally, we will describe future perspectives, such as potential discoveries related to LNMs, with a specific focus on the development of new strategies for detecting LNMs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Kyushu University Beppu Hospital, Beppu, Japan

    Shuhei Ito, Takaaki Masuda, Yosuke Kuroda, Hidetoshi Eguchi & Koshi Mimori

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  1. Shuhei Ito
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  2. Takaaki Masuda
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  3. Yosuke Kuroda
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  4. Hidetoshi Eguchi
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  5. Koshi Mimori
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Correspondence to Koshi Mimori .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Digestive Surgery, Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Kagoshima, Japan

    Shoji Natsugoe

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Ito, S., Masuda, T., Kuroda, Y., Eguchi, H., Mimori, K. (2019). Basic Aspect: Methodology. In: Natsugoe, S. (eds) Lymph Node Metastasis in Gastrointestinal Cancer. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4699-5_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4699-5_8

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