[A theoretical model for assessing the relationship between "stage migration" and survival of gastric cancer patients after variable lymph node dissection].

Standard histological procedures identify metastatic gastric cancer in approximately 15% of cases of macroscopically unaltered lymph nodes. Such metastases evade detection after surgery due to inadequate lymph node dissection, thus increasing staging error. Consequently, about 15% of patients suffer from tumor which is actually more advanced than one diagnosed originally.