Lymph node metastasis is one of the important factors influencing the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. Accurate and reasonable lymph node staging is greatly significant in evaluating the course of the disease, in estimating the prognosis, and in making a reasonable treatment plan. Local and international research institutions recently found that new staging methods for lymph nodes associated with the prognosis of gastric cancer (e.g., metastastic lymph nodes ratio, log odds of positive lymph nodes, negative lymph node count, and lymph node micrometastasis) can also predict the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. In this paper, the development history, current status of lymph node staging of gastric cancer, and research progress on the new staging methods for lymph nodes as-sociated with the prognosis of gastric cancer are reviewed.

Teratoma is a true neoplasm composed of tissues from all three germinal layers (ectoderm,endoderm and mesoderm)and may ex-hibit variable levels of maturity.It is not common in the head and neck(5.5%of all teratomas).A case of teratoma treated in our department is reported in this paper.

OBJECTIVETo study the risk factor of perioperative complication in gastric cancer patients with radical therapy and its influence on prognosis.

METHODSClinical, pathological and follow-up data of 1 148 gastric cancer patients undergoing radical gastrectomy at Tianjin Medical University Affiliated Tumor Hospital between January 2009 and August 2011 were retrospectively collected. Pearson 2 test and Logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the risk factor of perioperative complication. Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate the influence of perioperative complications on the prognosis in patients after radical gastrectomy. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was applied to calculate the survival.

RESULTSOf 1 148 patients, 851 were male, 297 were female, age ranged from 19 to 89 (average 59.9) years. Perioperative complication occurred in 312 cases (27.2%), including 140 cases of pulmonary infection and 53 cases of abdominal infection. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that ≥65 years old (OR:0.736, 95%CI: 0.558 to 0.971, P=0.030), serum albumin less than 35 g/L(OR:2.626, 95%CI: 1.479 to 4.665, P=0.001), Borrmann type IIII((OR: 0.748, 95%CI: 0.610 to 0.917, P=0.005), tumor site at upper 1/3 of stomach (OR:1.326, 95%CI:1.167 to 1.506, P=0.000), combined organ resection(OR:0.624, 95%CI:0.428 to 0.909, P=0.014) were independent risk factors of perioperative complication. Tumor site at upper 1/3 of stomach (OR:1.649, 95%CI: 1.368 to 1.988, P=0.000), ≥65 years old (OR:0.548, 95%CI:0.379 to 0.792, P=0.001), without intraoperative chemotherapy (OR:1.671, 95%CI:1.146 to 2.437, P=0.008) were independent risk factors of perioperative pulmonary infection; Borrmann type IIII((OR:0.576, 95%CI:0.369 to 0.900, P=0.015), with intraoperative chemotherapy (OR:0.431, 95%CI:0.230 to 0.810, P=0.009), intraoperative blood loss ≥400 ml(OR:0.411, 95%CI:0.176 to 0.959, P=0.040) and combined organ resection (OR:0.412, 95%CI:0.215 to 0.789, P=0.008) were independent risk factors of perioperative intraperitoneal infection. Cox regression analysis revealed that without intraoperative chemotherapy, proximal subtotal or total gastrectomy, TNM stage III(, N3 stage lymph node metastasis, positive soft tissue outside lymph node, combined organ resection and organ failure were independent risk factors affecting the prognosis of gastric cancer patients after radical resection (all P<0.05), however the perioperative complication was not independent risk factor affecting the prognosis (P=0.259). The median survival time was 35 months, and 5-year survival rate was around 38.7%. The median survival time of gastric cancer patients with operative complications and without complications were 28.0 and 36.5 months, and the 5-year survival rates were 37.2% and 39.3%, whose difference was not statistically significant (P=0.259).

CONCLUSIONThere is a higher risk of perioperative complication in those gastric cancer patients with old age, preoperative low serum albumin level, tumor site at upper 1/3 of stomach, Borrmann type IIII(, intraoperative combined organ resection, while the perioperative complication has no significant effects on the long-term survival.