[Factor analysis and method exploring for lymph nodes harvest in gastric cancer]

The number of lymph node dissection and positive lymph nodes are the necessary guarantees for patients to achieve accurate staging after gastric cancer surgery. On the basis of the minimum number of lymph nodes dissection recommended by the NCCN guidelines, as many as possible lymph node yields will be most likely to benefit patients. Many factors can influence the number of lymph node yields including surgery, patient, tumor pathology and postoperative sorting factors. Compared with traditional manual nodal dissection method, fat-clearing technique and methylene blue staining method can improve the number of lymph nodes detection, while lymphatic tracers, such as carbon nanoparticles, are conducive to show lymphatic vessels, contributing to the dissection of small lymph nodes. The initial results from People's Liberation Army General Hospital show that lymph node packet submission after isolation by surgeon yields more lymph nodes. For the establishment of standards, lymph node retrieval-related procedures need further in-depth exploration and investigation.