Nomogram to predict lymph node metastasis in patients with early gastric cancer: a useful clinical tool to reduce gastrectomy after endoscopic resection.

Abstract in brief

• The study developed a nomogram, a predictive tool based on clinical data, to assess the likelihood of lymph node metastasis in patients with early gastric cancer (EGC), aiming to reduce unnecessary gastrectomies by improving decision-making.
• The nomogram was created using data from over 10,000 patients and identified key factors such as age, tumor size, lymphatic invasion, invasion depth, and histologic differentiation as significant predictors; it showed strong accuracy with a concordance index of around 0.846.
• External validation and survival analysis indicated that for patients with low risk scores, endoscopic dissection could be as effective as gastrectomy, potentially allowing more patients to avoid invasive surgery and maintain a better quality of life.]