To be or not to be: significance of lymph nodes on pretreatment CT in predicting survival of rectal cancer patients.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the extent to which pretreatment imaging of lymph nodes by computed tomography (CT) predicts survival of patients with rectal cancer.


METHODS
We retrospectively analyzed 70 patients with rectal cancer, who had pretreatment CT and curative surgery between December 1999 and October 2003. These patients were followed until December 2007, ensuring minimal follow-up time of 49 months. Two radiologists who reviewed the CT images on workstations had no prior access to clinical and treatment information regarding the selected patients. The parameters assessed for survival analysis were as follows: patient age, sex, CEA and CA199 level, preoperational therapy, tumor location, serosal invasion, largest diameters and numbers of lymph nodes on pretreatment CT. Kaplan-Meier survival curves, the log-rank test, and the multivariate Cox proportional hazards model were used to evaluate the prognostic value of the parameters.


RESULTS
Using pretreatment CT as prognostic tool, we found that both size and number of lymph nodes correlated with the overall survival of patients with rectal cancer. The data proved that a diameter smaller than 8mm for the largest lymph node was correlated with prolonged survival (P < 0.001). Meanwhile, patients with more than 4 lymph nodes had a significantly worse disease-specific survival (P = 0.042). Both parameters are independent prognostic factors (hazard ratio 4.910 and 3.563) and could predict the overall survival of rectal cancer patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The lymph node size and number, as determined by pretreatment CT, is an important clinical prognostic factor in patients with rectal cancer. The pretreatment CT findings could be used to predict survival and plan appropriate therapies.
Department of Radiology, Key laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research Ministry of Education, Peking University School of Oncology, Beijing Cancer Hospital & Institute, 52 Fu Cheng Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing 100142, China.
Yong-Kun
YK
Chi
Xiao-Peng
XP
Zhang
Jie
J
Li
Ying-Shi
YS
Sun
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*