Impact of Inferior Mesenteric Artery Lymph Node Metastasis on the Prognosis of Left-sided Colorectal Cancer

Background/Aim: This study aimed to investigate the impact of the inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) lymph node metastasis [IMALN (+)] on prognosis in left-sided colorectal cancer (LCRC). Patients and Methods: A total of 285 patients with stage III LCRC and 118 patients with stage IV LCRC who underwent resection of primary tumor between 2005 and 2016 were included. Results: IMALN (+) patients (n=10) had worse overall survival (OS) than patients without IMA lymph node metastasis [IMALN (–); n=275] in stage III LCRC (p=0.007). Multivariate analysis revealed that IMALN (+) was a prognostic factor in stage III LCRC (OS, HR=3.09, p=0.043). Conversely, there was no difference between the OS of IMALN (+) and stage IV LCRC with distant lymph node metastasis only [stage IV LCRC (LYM); n=21; p=0.434]. Conclusion: The prognosis of IMALN (+) was worse than that of IMALN (–); it was similar to that of stage IV LCRC (LYM).