Histological Evaluation of Lymph Node Metastasis on Serial Sectioning in Gastric Cancer with Radical Lymphadenectomy

Background/aims: Lymph node metastasis is one of the most important prognostic factors in gastric cancer patients. To evaluate the real extent of lymph node metastasis from gastric cancer, histological examination by serial sectioning was performed.

Methodology: Histological examination of serial sections of lymph nodes was performed in 111 gastric cancer patients who underwent radical gastrectomy, to evaluate methods of examining lymph node metastasis. A total of 58430 cross-sections of 3449 lymph nodes were examined. The extent of lymph node metastasis was evaluated by the routine one-section method, the 3-section method and the serial sectioning method for lymph node examination.

Results: The frequency of lymph node metastasis was 81.1% (90/111) and metastatic foci were detected in 23.0% of all lymph nodes by serial sectioning. Serial sectioning of distant lymph nodes showed metastasis in 23.8% by the 1 section method, and 8.4% by the 3-section method. Micrometastasis was detected in 10.5% of metastatic lymph nodes, and distant lymph nodes had a higher rate of micrometastasis.

Conclusion: Serial sectioning resulted in more accurate evaluation of the extent of lymph node metastasis, and it was also shown that distant lymph nodes had a higher rate of micrometastasis.