N stages of the seventh edition of TNM Classification are the most intensive variables for predictions of the overall survival of gastric cancer patients who underwent limited lymphadenectomy.

The objective of this study was to explore the prognostic prediction rationality of the seventh edition N stage for gastric cancer (GC) patients who underwent the limited lymphadenectomy. Clinicopathological data of 769 GC patients who underwent the curative resection between 1997 and 2006 were analyzed for demonstration that the seventh edition N stage had the significant superiorities of prognostic prediction to the patients who underwent the limited lymphadenectomy. Although the extent of lymphadenectomy was associated with the overall survival (OS) of gastric cancer (GC) patients, the N stages of the seventh edition of the TNM Classification were identified as the most intensively independent predictors of GC prognosis. Using stratum analysis, the 5-year survival rate of patients who underwent limited lymphadenectomy was observed to be significantly different from that of patients who underwent extended lymphadenectomy, regardless of the extent of lymph node metastasis. Multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that combining the extents of lymph node metastasis and lymphadenectomy could improve the prediction accuracy of patient survival status. Case control analysis showed that regardless of the extent of lymphadenectomy, the seventh edition N stages featured significant superiority for OS evaluation of GC patients. The seventh edition N stage had the prediction rationality for the OS of GC patients who underwent the limited lymphadenectomy.