Examining more nodes helps older gastric patients

Older patients with stomach cancer lived longer when surgeons examined 35 or more lymph nodes, with no rise in short-term complications.

• Patients with 35 or more nodes examined had lower risk of death than those with fewer than 16, in every age group.
• For patients 75 and older, risk of death was about 26% lower.
• Deaths within 30 days, readmissions, and long hospital stays were not more common with more nodes.

Age alone is not a reason to remove fewer nodes. This was a look back at national cancer registry records, so it shows a link, not proof that more nodes cause longer survival.