KEEPING COUNT

Counting lymph nodes provides a reliable predictor of patient tumor progress.

Counting metastatic lymph nodes provides a reliable predictor of patient outcomes for nearly all solid cancers, according to research at CedarsSinai Cancer. “We found that this simple process is much more effective for determining solid tumor prognoses than all other factors used today,” says radiation oncologist Zachary S. Zumsteg, MD, who led the study. “It should be the backbone of nodal staging because it is the best predictor of mortality, irrespective of the disease site.”

The research, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, analyzed data from the National Cancer Database and the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results registry. The team examined outcomes for more than 3 million patients. Focused solely on survival, the findings were validated across 16 of the most common solid cancers in the United States.

In addition to accuracy, the method has the advantage of being easily adopted. “Lymph node counting is possible in virtually all medical settings, including resource-poor countries,” notes radiation oncologist and study co-author Anthony T. Nguyen, MD, PhD.