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The following is a summary of the study titled “Lymph Node Ratio is a Prognostic Indicator for Locally Advanced Gastric Cancer After Neoadjuvant Immunochemotherapy,” published in the October 2024 issue of Gastroenterology by Zhou et al.
A retrospective study explored the effectiveness of lymph node ratio (LNR) as a prognostic tool in patients with locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC) who have undergone radical resection following neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy (NICT). While using LNR to predict outcomes for these patients remains under investigation, researchers seek to clarify the correlation between LNR and survival rates.
They analyzed data from 121 patients with LAGC who underwent radical resection after NICT between July 2020 and October 2023. The patients were divided into two groups based on their LNR values: the low LNR group (LNR ≤ 33%) and the high LNR group (LNR > 33%). They examined the relationship between LNR and overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) alongside other clinical and pathological factors.
Results revealed a significant difference in outcomes between the two groups. Patients with a low LNR demonstrated better 2-year OS (88.5% vs. 32.6%; p < 0.001) and PFS (80.2% vs. 23.5%; p < 0.001) compared to those with a high LNR. These findings were also consistent in patients who did not achieve a complete pathological response, where the 2-year OS was 87.2% vs. 32.6% (p < 0.001), and the 2-year PFS was 77.7% vs. 23.5% (p < 0.001). LNR showed similar prognostic abilities as traditional pathologic lymph node staging (ypN) in predicting OS and PFS.
Multivariate analysis indicated that LNR was an independent predictor of OS (HR 6.258, 95% CI 1.798–21.778; p = 0.004) and PFS (HR 3.431, 95% CI 1.341–8.780; p = 0.010), while ypN was not a significant factor.
The study concluded that LNR could be a valuable prognostic indicator in patients with LAGC treated with NICT, offering an alternative to traditional lymph node staging in assessing long-term outcomes.
Source: bmcgastroenterol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12876-024-03462-x
