N, LNR or LODDS: Which Is the Most Appropriate Lymph Node Classification Scheme for Patients with Radically Resected Pancreatic Cancer?

Background: Even though numerous novel lymph node (LN) classification schemes exist, an extensive comparison of their performance in patients with resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has not yet been performed.

Method: We investigated the prognostic performance and discriminative ability of 25 different LN ratio (LNR) and 27 log odds of metastatic LN (LODDS) classifications by means of Cox regression and C-statistic in 319 patients with resected PDAC. Regression models were adjusted for age, sex, T category, grading, localization, presence of metastatic disease, positivity of resection margins, and neoadjuvant therapy.

Results: Both LNR or LODDS as continuous variables were associated with advanced tumor stage, distant metastasis, positive resection margins, and PDAC of the head or corpus. Two distinct LN classifications, one LODDS and one LNR, were found to be superior to the N category in the complete patient collective. However, only the LODDS classification exhibited statistically significant, gradually increasing HRs of their subcategories and at the same time significantly higher discriminative potential in the subgroups of patients with PDAC of the head or corpus and in patients with tumor free resection margins or M0 status, respectively. On this basis, we built a clinically helpful nomogram to estimate the prognosis of patients after radically resected PDAC.

Conclusion: One LNR and one LODDS classification scheme were found to out-perform the N category in terms of both prognostic performance and discriminative ability, in distinct patient subgroups, with reference to OS in patients with resected PDAC.