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Lymph node density as a prognostic variable in node-positive bladder cancer: a meta-analysis

Cited 38 time in Web of Science Cited 41 time in Scopus
Authors

Ku, Ja Hyeon; Kang, Minyong; Kim, Hyung Suk; Jeong, Chang Wook; Kwak, Cheol; Kim, Hyeon Hoe

Issue Date
2015-06-02
Publisher
BioMed Central
Citation
BMC Cancer, 15(1):447
Keywords
Bladder cancerMeta-analysisLymph node densityPrognosisRadical cystectomy
Description
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.
Abstract
Abstract

Background
Although lymph node (LN) status and the LN burden determine the outcome of bladder cancer patients treated with cystectomy, compelling arguments have been made for the incorporation of LN density into the current staging system. Here, we investigate the relationship between LN density and clinical outcome in patients with LN-positive disease, following radical cystectomy for bladder cancer.


Methods
PubMed, SCOPUS, the Institute for Scientific Information Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched to identify relevant published literature.


Results
Fourteen studies were included in the meta-analysis, with a total number of 3311 patients. Of these 14 publications, 6 studies, (533 patients), 10 studies (2966 patients), and 5 studies (1108 patients) investigated the prognostic association of LN density with disease-free survival (DFS), disease-specific survival (DSS), and overall survival (OS), respectively. The pooled hazard ratio (HR) for DFS was 1.45 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10–1.91) without heterogeneity (I2 = 0%, p = 0.52). Higher LN density was significantly associated with poor DSS (pooled HR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.23–1.89). However, significant heterogeneity was found between studies (I2 = 66%, p = 0.002). The pooled HR for OS was statistically significant (pooled HR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.11–1.90) without heterogeneity (I2 = 42%, p = 0.14). The results of the Begg and Egger tests suggested that publication bias was not evident in this meta-analysis.


Conclusions
The data from this meta-analysis indicate that LN density is an independent predictor of clinical outcome in LN-positive patients. LN density may be useful in future staging systems, thus allowing better prognostic classification of LN-positive bladder cancer.
Language
English
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/10371/100523
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-015-1448-x
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