Critical number of lymph node involvement in esophageal and gastric cancer and its impact on long-term survival-A single-center 8-year study.

The absolute number of nodes positive for cancer is more important than the proportion of positive nodes in predicting survival in esophageal/gastric cancer. Four positive lymph nodes are associated with a fivefold increase in mortality. Beyond this, increasing numbers of positive lymph nodes make no appreciable difference to survival.