HOUSTON, March 21 (UPI) -- The more lymph nodes are removed and examined during colon cancer surgery, the better the outcome, according to a U.S. review of 17 studies.
The review, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggests removal of the lymph nodes during colon-cancer surgery takes away a reservoir for potentially lethal cancer, and knowing how far a cancer has spread leads to better treatment.
Lead author Dr. George Chang of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center said in a statement the results of the review were "striking" and should support efforts to examine and extract a minimum number of lymph nodes during surgery.
Removing colon tissue during surgery in a way that captures the entire tumor requires attentiveness. Sometimes the nodes, which filter cancer cells from the lymph, can be difficult for pathologists to find, especially when the lymph nodes are small or when the patient is obese, Chang acknowledged.
