title: Additional Prognostic Value of Lymph Node Ratio (LNR) and Number of Negative Lymph Nodes (NLNs) in Chinese Patients with Triple Negative Breast Cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of lymph node ratio (LNR), number of removed lymph nodes (RLNs), and number of negative lymph nodes (NLNs) in Chinese patients with triple negative breast cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study cohort comprised 394 breast cancer patients with the triple negative subtype. The log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards analysis was employed to identify prognostic clinicopathological factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median follow-up time was 61 months, and the five-year disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were 63.75% and 64.97%, respectively. Univariate Cox survival analysis revealed that pN stage, LNR, and NLNs were significant prognostic factors for DFS and OS (all,p<0.05). Multivariate analysis including pN stage and LNR showed that LNR was an independent prognostic factor for DFS (p=0.047) and OS (p=0.0497). When combining pN stage, LNR, and NLNs together, only NLNs was an independent prognostic factor for DFS and OS (p=0.014). LNR is prognostically superior to pN stage in patients with triple negative breast cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study revealed that LNR and NLNs can provide additional prognostic value for DFS and OS. Moreover, LNR had a better prognostic value compared with pN stage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Qing-Xuan
authors.initials: QX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Ye-Feng
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Ying-Ying
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Xu
authors.initials: WX
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: En-Dong
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Hua
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China lqoncology@sina.com.
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D064726:Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Breast cancer; Lymph node ratio; Negative lymph node; Prognosis