The concept of lymph node density - Is it ready for clinical practice? Journal Article
| Author: | Herr, H. W. |
| Article Title: | The concept of lymph node density - Is it ready for clinical practice? |
| Abstract: | Purpose: The concept of lymph node density (ratio of positive-to-total number of nodes examined) is reviewed as a prognostic factor for recurrence-free survival after cystectomy in patients with invasive bladder cancer. Materials and Methods: The literature was queried for all articles that directly or indirectly address lymph node density (nodal ratios) and survival of bladder cancer. Results: Five studies on a total of 979 patients were found. In 4 studies lymph node density was a significant predictive factor for survival when adjusted for patient, tumor and treatment covariates. Conclusions: Considerable data support the use of lymph node density in bladder cancer prognosis. A methodological evaluation of the prognostic importance of nodal ratios in large multicenter data sets and validation in a prospective clinical trial are merited before lymph node density is accepted into routine clinical practice. © 2007 American Urological Association. |
| Keywords: | cancer survival; disease-free survival; cancer recurrence; disease free survival; lymph node metastasis; lymph nodes; lymphatic metastasis; lymph node excision; clinical practice; lymphadenectomy; bladder cancer; prediction; urinary bladder neoplasms; evaluation; systematic review; lymph node; cystectomy; clinical medicine; oncological parameters; lymph node density |
| Journal Title: | Journal of Urology |
| Volume: | 177 |
| Issue: | 4 |
| ISSN: | 0022-5347 |
| Publisher: | Elsevier Science, Inc. |
| Date Published: | 2007-04-01 |
| Start Page: | 1273 |
| End Page: | 1276 |
| Language: | English |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.juro.2006.11.094 |
| PUBMED: | 17382708 |
| PROVIDER: | scopus |
| DOI/URL: | |
| Notes: | --- - "Cited By (since 1996): 20" - "Export Date: 17 November 2011" - "CODEN: JOURA" - "Source: Scopus" |
