Brett L Ecker, Emily C Paulson, Jashodeep Datta, Arjun N Jeganathan, Cary Aarons, Rachel R Kelz, Najjia N Mahmoud

Neoadjuvant chemoradiation (nCRT) for rectal adenocarcinoma reduces lymph node (LN) identification following surgical resection. We sought to evaluate the relationship between LN identification following nCRT and disease-specific survival (DSS), stratified by pathologic stage. The SEER-Medicare database (2000-2009) was queried for 1,216 pathologic stage I-III rectal cancer patients who underwent nCRT followed by curative-intent resection. Cox regressions evaluated the association between pathologic stage and DSS for LN cut-points from ≥2 up to ≥12 LNs. Extent of LN identification did not influence DSS in ypStage I or ypStage III disease; in particular, the 12 LN cut-point was not associated with DSS for ypStage I (HR 1.29, P = 0.51) or ypStage III (HR 1.08, P = 0.42) patients. In ypStage II patients, actuarial survival improved continually with increasing lymph node identification up to ≥12 LNs. The 5 LN cut-point was associated with the greatest reduction of risk of cancer death (HR 0.56, P = 0.006), with decreasing magnitudes of survival benefit associated with nodal counts beyond 5 LN. The 12 LN cut-point was not associated with DSS in ypStage II patients (HR 0.67, P = 0.07). The association between DSS and LN identification is a dynamic outcome that varies by pathologic stage, with unique prognostic significance for ypStage II patients. J. Surg. Oncol. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.