[Effect of lymph node dissection on prognosis of colon carcinoma]

Surgical treatment is essential for the prognosis of colon carcinoma. The extension of the lymph node excision depends on several factors, as operative technique and quality of the histopathological examination. In a retrospective analysis of 278 patients who had undergone curative primary resection for colon carcinoma the influence of lymph node excision on the prognosis has been proved. In the period of the analysis (between 1985 and 1993) the mean number of dissected lymph nodes could be increased. This had a strong influence on the prognosis. Whereas in early tumor stages and in patients with an extended lymph node metastasis no correlation between the quantity of lymph node excision and the prognosis could be found, patients with an extended local tumor growth without lymph node metastasis (pT3/4 pN0; p < 0.03) and patients with local lymph node metastasis (pN1; p < 0.0001) gained from the radical lymphadenectomy.