External Validation of a Nomogram Developed for Predicting Overall Survival in Gastric Cancer Patients with Insufficient Number of Examined Lymph Nodes

Abstract

Objectives: Nomograms and scoring systems in gastric cancers have been mainly developed based on adequate lymph node (lN) dissections. This study aimed to perform external validation of a nomogram developed for predicting overall survival (OS) in gastric cancer patients with insufficient number of examined LNs (eLNs) and to evaluate its usability as compared with the 8th American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC)’s Tumor-Node-Metastasis staging system. Methods: Medical records of 262 patients undergoing complete surgical resection for gastric cancers and having pathologically confirmed diagnosis were retrospectively reviewed. The study included 104 (39.7%) patients (82 males, median age, 60.3 years) with insufficient number of eLNs (