BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic importance of the metastatic lymph node ratio for stage III colon cancer patients and to find a cut-off value at which the overall survival and disease-free survival change.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients with pathological stage III colon cancer were retrospectively evaluated for: age; preoperative values of Crp, Cea, Ca 19-9, and Afp; pathologic situation of vascular, perineural, lymphatic, and serosal involvement; and metastatic lymph node ratio values were calculated.

RESULTS: The study included 58 stage III colon cancer patients: 20 (34.5%) females and 38 (65.5%) males were involved in the study. Multivariate analysis was applied to the following variables to evaluate significance for overall survival and disease-free survival: age, Crp, Cea, perineural invasion, and metastatic lymph node ratio. The metastatic lymph node ratio (<0.25 or ≥0.25) is the only independent variable significant for overall and disease-free survival.

CONCLUSIONS: Metastatic lymph node ratio is an ideal prognostic marker for stage III colon cancer patients, and 0.25 is the cut-off value for prognosis.

Keywords: Colonic Neoplasms - physiopathology, Disease-Free Survival, Lymphatic Metastasis - pathology, Multivariate Analysis, Neoplasm Invasiveness - pathology, Tumor Markers, Biological