Abstract
PURPOSE: We have studied 193 cases of colorectal adenocarcinoma from a population-based register to determine the minimum number of lymph nodes to be examined to provide an accurate assessment of the presence of nodal metastases. METHODS: The mean total number of lymph nodes identified per surgical specimen was 11 ±6.8 (range, 1–36) using traditional dissection. One hundred eighteen specimens (61 percent) were classified as Dukes B. Seventy-five (39 percent) had lymph node metastases (Dukes C) with a mean of 3.3±4.7 positive lymph nodes per specimen. With binomial distribution we calculate the probability to find at least one positive node in a sample size n with a determined proportion of positive nodes. RESULTS: The error probability in the ganglionar assessment by traditional dissection was 0.05 with 6 examined lymph nodes and 0.01 with 10 examined nodes. CONCLUSION: We must provide the pathologist with a minimum of six examined lymph nodes per surgical specimen for an optimal Dukes B assessment.
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Read at the XIX National Congress of The Spanish Society of Surgeons, Madrid, Spain, November 9 to 13, 1992.
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Hernanz, F., Revuelta, S., Redondo, C. et al. Colorectal adenocarcinoma: Quality of the assessment of lymph node metastases. Dis Colon Rectum 37, 373–377 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02053600
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02053600