LYMPH NODE MICROMETASTASIS IN EARLY GASTRIC CANCER: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Shantanu Baral, Mubeen Hussein Arawker, Mohamed Said Jalloh, Qiannan Sun and Daorong Wang*

ABSTRACT

One of the most important prognostic indicators in patients with early gastric cancer is lymph node metastasis. However, there are still a small number of early gastric cancer patients with negative lymph node metastasis who died of tumor recurrence or distant metastasis after surgery. Some scholars have proposed that lymph node micrometastasis (LNM) is the potential cause of such patients' recurrence and metastasis. Compared with macroscopic lymph node metastasis, the detection of lymph node micrometastasis is more difficult, and its clinical significance for the prognosis of gastric cancer is still controversial. The definition, identification, and importance of LNM in early gastric cancer were discussed in this review. We also summarize the research progress of gastric cancer lymph node micrometastasis.

Keywords: Gastric cancer; lymph nodes metastasis; micrometastasis.