[Metastasis to lymph nodes in early gastric cancer]

The presence of metastasis in lymph nodes is one of the most important aspects to be evaluated in Early Gastric Cancer (EGC). In this paper we analyze the presence of that kind of metastasis in 70 EGC, in 66 patients studied in our Institute and surgically treated at the Central Hospital of San Cristobal. We found 3 cases with metastasis to perigastric (regional) lymph nodes (N1) and one case with extra perigastric lymph nodes metastasis (N3), that signify 5.7% of the total of all cases. We established the relationship of these metastasis and the following variables: macroscopic type, localization, size, depth of invasion within the gastric wall and the histological variety of the lesions. We found that the type IIa + IIc, the lesions located in the fundus, bigger that 3 cm, with invasion reaching the submucosa and histological differentiated (intestinal type), were the most important characteristics related with the presence of metastasis to the lymph nodes in our EGC.