Hi I had surgery last November to remove a 20mm tumor from my sigmoid colon and told no further treatment necessary however only 8 lymph nodes were tested what would be the reason so few were looked at as I believe the standard number is 12 upwards?
Hi I had surgery last November to remove a 20mm tumor from my sigmoid colon and told no further treatment necessary however only 8 lymph nodes were tested what would be the reason so few were looked at as I believe the standard number is 12 upwards?
Hi Gmm,
Thanks for getting in touch and welcome to our online community.
I hope you are recovering well from surgery last November.
My name is Carole and I’m one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists on the Macmillan Support Line.
It’s only natural to want to know why 8 lymph nodes were removed.
You probably know that lymph nodes are removed by a surgeon, then examined by a pathologist in a lab. This helps doctors to determine the stage of a cancer and can influence treatment.
Many factors are known to affect the number of lymph nodes removed.
These include, surgical factors, like the size of the bowel resection and patient factors, like age. Pathology/pathologist factors and tumour/biology factors can also affect the total number of lymph nodes that are looked at in the lab.
There is a lot of information online about lymph node sampling, but none of it will be specific to your situation.
We’d encourage you to contact your hospital specialist team, as they have access to your medical notes. They should be able to explain why they examined 8 lymph nodes and answer any other questions you have.
I hope this is helpful.
Sending best wishes,
Carole
You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email.
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