Prognostic value of metastatic lymph node ratio as an additional tool to the TNM stage system in gastric cancer

摘要

Background: Gastric cancer is one of most common malignancies in the world. Currently the prognostic prediction is entirely based on the TNM staging system. In this study, we evaluated whether metastatic lymph node ratio (rN) at the time of surgery would improve the prognostic prediction in conjunction with the TNM staging system.