On the probability of lymph node negativity in pN0-staged prostate cancer—a theoretically derived rule of thumb for adjuvant needs

The extent of lymphadenectomy and clinical features influence the risk of occult nodes in node-negative prostate cancer. We derived a simple estimation model for the negative predictive value (npv) of histopathologically node-negative prostate cancer patients (pN0) to guide adjuvant treatment.Approximations of sensitivities in detecting lymph node metastasis from current publications depending on the number of removed lymph nodes were used for a...