Difference in prognostic impact of lateral pelvic lymph node metastasis between pre- and post-neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in rectal cancer patients.

Pre- and post-nCRT mLPLN (+) have different prognostic effects. Post-nCRT mLPLN appears to be more important for disease control. However, pre-nCRT mLPLN should not be disregarded when devising a treatment strategy since it is an independent risk factor for OS.