Impact of the number of positive lymph nodes on disease-free survival in patients with pathological stage B1 nonseminomatous germ cell tumor

PURPOSE: The prognostic significance of the number of metastatic lymph nodes detected at surgery on survival is well documented for breast and colon cancer, and it has recently been reported in bladder cancer. We tested this hypothesis in patients with pathological stage B1 nonseminomatous germ cell tumor (NSGCT). MATERIAL AND METHODS: This series included 118 patients with pathological stage B1 NSGCT (5 or fewer positive lymph nodes) at primary retroperitoneal lymph node dissection who did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy at a followup of greater than 24 months. RESULTS: Five-year disease-free survival (DFS) was 68% at a median followup of 43 months. Median followup in patients without recurrence was 67.4 months and median time to recurrence was 5.0 months. The mean and median number of positive lymph nodes was 2.0. Five-year DFS for 1 or 2 and 3 to 5 positive lymph nodes was 72% and 59%, respectively (p = 0.0847). Five-year DFS for lymph node density less or greater than 0.05 was 75% and 66%, respectively (p = 0.261). Neither the number of positive lymph nodes (continuous and categorical p = 0.201 and 0.271) or the ratio of the number of positive lymph nodes to the total number resected (continuous and categorical p = 0.415 and 0.998, respectively) predicted recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Primary retroperitoneal lymph node dissection is curative in patients with pathological stage B1 NSGCT and DFS does not seem to be influenced by the number or the ratio of positive lymph nodes resected. This information may be helpful in limiting adjuvant chemotherapy in patients otherwise cured by surgery.