5. Lymph node system
The regional lymph nodes of the stomach are located along the corresponding veins.
However, there are significant differences in the definition of lymph node metastasis under the UICC (1997) and JGCA (1998) staging systems.
JGCA (1998) classifies the regional lymph nodes of the stomach by anatomical location, numbering them from 1 to 20. Numbers 110, 111 and 112 of the lower mediastinal lymph nodes are also noted. These lymph nodes are grouped into the categories N1, N2, and N3, the combinations of each depending on the location of the primary tumor (upper, middle or lower stomach). The surgical intervention (lymph node dissection along with gastric resection) is described as D0-D3 resection. D0 implies no node dissection; D1, D2, D3 call for N1, N2, N3 dissection, respectively.
• Regional lymph nodes
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The regional lymph nodes are the perigastric nodes along the lesser and greater curvatures, the nodes along the left gastric, common hepatic, splenic and celiac arteries, and the hepatoduodenal nodes. Involvement of other intra-abdominal lymph nodes such as retropancreatic (No. 13 with JGCA), mesenteric (No. 14 with JGCA), and para-aortic (No. 16 with JGCA) is classified as distant metastasis. In contrast to the JGCA system, in the TNM system the extent of lymph node metastasis is based on the number of lymph nodes involved: N0 (no extension to regional nodes), N1 (1-6 regional nodes), N2 (7-15 regional nodes), N3 (>15 regional nodes), NX (unknown). Rather than the size and location, it is the degree of penetration of the gastric wall by the primary tumor that is important. This is assigned a T-value. |