AUTHOR=Li Ruizhen , Li Xiaofen , Wang Yan , Chang Chen , Lv Wanrui , Li Xiaoying , Cao Dan 

TITLE=Risk factors for regional lymph node metastasis in rectal neuroendocrine tumors: a population-based study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2024.1383047

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2024.1383047

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>The identification of risk factors for regional lymph node (r-LN) metastasis in rectal neuroendocrine tumors (R-NETs) remains challenging. Our objective was to investigate the risk factors associated with patients diagnosed with R-NETs exhibiting r-LN metastasis.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>Patient information was obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, complemented by data from the West China Hospital (WCH) databases. The construction cohort comprised patients diagnosed with R-NETs from the SEER database, while cases from the WCH database were utilized as the validation cohort. A novel nomogram was developed to predict the probability of r-LN metastasis, employing a logistic regression model.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Univariate analysis identified four independent risk factors associated with poor r-LN metastasis: age (HR = 1.027, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05), grade (HR = 0.010, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05), T stage (HR = 0.010, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05), and tumor size (HR = 0.005, p &lt; 0.05). These factors were selected as predictors for nomogram construction.</p></sec><sec><title>Discussion</title><p>The novel nomogram serves as a reliable tool for predicting the risk of r-LN metastasis, providing clinicians with valuable assistance in identifying high-risk patients and tailoring individualized treatments.</p></sec>