Leveraging SEER data through machine learning to predict distant lymph node metastasis and prognosticate outcomes in hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

Our study identified key predictive factors for DLNM and elucidated significant prognostic indicators for HCC patients with DLNM. These findings provide clinicians with valuable tools to accurately identify high-risk individuals for DLNM and conduct more precise risk stratification for this patient subgroup, potentially improving management strategies and patient outcomes.