Determining the Optimal Examined Lymph Node for Accurate Staging and Long-term Survival in Rectal Cancer

Determining the Optimal Examined Lymph Node for Accurate Staging and Long-term Survival in Rectal Cancer: a Population Study of the US Database and a Chinese Multi-institutional Registry

A multi-institutional registry of collected data on patients with rectal cancer who underwent surgical resection between January 2009 and December 2018 at the departments of colorectal surgery of five medical institutions in China

A multi-institutional registry of collected data on patients with rectal cancer who underwent surgical resection between January 2009 and December 2018 at the departments of colorectal surgery of five medical institutions in China (National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College; Changhai Hospital, Naval Medical University; The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University; The Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Harbin Medical University; The Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Guangxi Medical University)

Inclusion Criteria:

• Rectal cancer patients in stage I-III who underwent surgical resection for first primary rectal cancer with at least one lymph node were eligible

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with missing values on lymph node count and clinical features were excluded