Is a cutoff value of 12 still useful in stage II right-sided colon cancer without risk factors?

Various clinical practice guidelines recommend at least 12 regional lymph nodes should be removed for resected colon cancer. According to a recent study, the lymph node yield (LNY) in colon cancer surgery in the last 20 years has tended to increase from 14.91 to 21.30. However, it is unclear whether these guidelines adequately reflect recent findings on the number of harvested lymph nodes in colon cancer surgery. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of an LNY of more than 25 on survival in right-sided colon cancer. We included 285 patients who underwent a right hemicolectomy during the period from January 2010 through December 2015. Patients were divided into two groups (