Background: Lymph node status in gastric cancer is known as an independent prognostic factor that guides the surgical and oncological treatment and independently influences long-term survival. Several studies suggest that the lymph node ratio has a greater importance in survival than the number of metastatic lymph nodes.
Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical and morphological factors that can influence the survival of gastric cancer patients, with an emphasis on nodal status and the lymph node ratio.
Material and methods: We conducted a retrospective study in which 303 patients with gastric cancer admitted to the Department of Surgery of the Mureș County Hospital between 2008 and 2018 were screened for study enrolment. Data were obtained from the records of the department and from the histopathological reports. The examined variables included: age, gender, tumor localization, T stage, histological type, grade of differentiation, surgical procedure, lympho-vascular invasion, excised lymph nodes, metastatic lymph nodes, lymph node ratio. After screening, the study included a total number of 100 patients, for which follow-up data was available.
Results: The mean age of the study population was 66.43 ± 10 years, and 71% were males. The average survival period was 21.42 months. Statistical analysis showed that the localization of the tumor (p = 0.021), vascular invasion (p ---lt---0.001), T (p = 0.004) and N (p ---lt---0.001) stages, type of surgery (partial gastrectomy 59% vs. total gastrectomy 41%, p = 0.005), as well as the lymph node ratio (p ---lt---0.001) were prognostic factors for survival in patients with gastric cancer undergoing surgical therapy.
Conclusions: The survival of gastric cancer patients is significantly influenced by tumor localization, T stage, vascular invasion, type of surgery, N stage and the lymph node ratio based on univariate analysis. Also, the lymph node ratio proved to be an independent prognostic factor for survival.
