RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The Prognostic Value of the Number of Harvested Negative Lymph Nodes in Patients Treated by Esophagectomy With or Without Neoadjuvant Chemoradiation JF Anticancer Research JO Anticancer Res FD International Institute of Anticancer Research SP 2833 OP 2840 DO 10.21873/anticanres.14257 VO 40 IS 5 A1 MAXIMILIAN BRUNNER A1 SUSANNE MERKEL A1 CHRISTIAN KRAUTZ A1 STEPHAN KERSTING A1 ROBERT GRÜTZMANN A1 GEORG F. WEBER YR 2020 UL http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/40/5/2833.abstract AB Background/Aim: The prognostic value of the number of harvested negative lymph nodes (NLNs) in patients with node-negative esophageal carcinoma treated by esophagectomy with or without neoadjuvant chemoradiation is unclear. Patients and Methods: A total of 136 patients who underwent oncological esophagectomy with two-field lymphadenectomy from 1995 to 2014 were analyzed regarding the prognostic impact of NLNs. 86 patients received primary surgery (group 1) and 50 patients had preoperative chemoradiation followed by surgery (group 2). Results: The 5-year overall survival (OS) was 61.1%. Median lymph node harvest was significantly higher in group 1 (39 vs. 34 in group 2, p=0.007). In group 1, patients with a higher number of negative lymph nodes (>40) had a better OS [57.6% vs. 78.9%, HR=0.5 (0.3-0.9), p=0.026], whereas there was no significant difference in group 2 using the same cutoff (47.6% vs. 66.7%, p=0.476). Conclusion: The number of NLNs is an independent prognostic factor for patients with esophageal carcinoma treated by primary esophagectomy, but not in patients after neoadjuvant chemoradiation.