How many lymph nodes do we have?

JanJan63
JanJan63 Member Posts: 2,478 Member
in Colorectal Cancer #1

Maybe I'm just not good at searching things on line. I can't seem to find out how many lymph nodes we're supposed to have that can be affected by colorectal cancer. After surgery I was told that I'm stage III because three out of eleven lymph nodes were involved. I assumed this meant I had eleven lymph nodes and three showed cancer in them. But I've looked through lots of posts on this forum and have seen much higher numbers. Isn't there a set number of lymph nodes that we all have? Or is everyone different?

Comments

  • Lovekitties
    Lovekitties Member Posts: 3,364 Member
    #2
    number taken not indicative of number present

    There are between 500 and 600 lymph nodes in the average adult human body according to what I have read.

    The number taken at surgery will vary by surgeon, surgical site and other factors.

    The number of lymph nodes present varies by location in the body.  Some areas have many more than others...such as the groin, arm pits and neck.

     

  • Nana b
    Nana b Member Posts: 3,030 Member
    #3
    Lovekitties said:

    number taken not indicative of number present

    There are between 500 and 600 lymph nodes in the average adult human body according to what I have read.

    The number taken at surgery will vary by surgeon, surgical site and other factors.

    The number of lymph nodes present varies by location in the body.  Some areas have many more than others...such as the groin, arm pits and neck.

     

    All those little dots

    Here is a diagram. Lots. 

     

    http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancerbasics/lymph-nodes-and-cancer

     

  • JanJan63
    JanJan63 Member Posts: 2,478 Member
    #4
    Nana b said:

    All those little dots

    Here is a diagram. Lots. 

     

    http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancerbasics/lymph-nodes-and-cancer

     

    So there's no standard number

    So there's no standard number that a person has? Everyone is different? That's kind of odd.

  • RickMurtagh
    RickMurtagh Member Posts: 587 Member
    #5
    less

    i am not sure, but i know i have seven less than when i started...

    best wishes,

    rick

  • TheLadySkye
    TheLadySkye Member Posts: 203 Member
    #6
    The number they gave you is

    The number they gave you is out of how many they TESTED, not how many you HAVE.  So 3 out of 11 means they removed and tested 11 lymph nodes, and 3 of those came back positive for cancerous cells.  You still have hundreds more in your body that weren't tested and in all likelihood at not impacted.  They test the nodes closest to the main tumor and nearby accessible ones.  Different surgeons seem to take a differing amount, and location also matters.  For example, because my tumor was in the small intestine, my surgeon took fewer nodes than he would have for colon cancer simply because there are fewer in that particular area.

    I hope that helps!

  • JanJan63
    JanJan63 Member Posts: 2,478 Member
    #7
    TheLadySkye said:

    The number they gave you is

    The number they gave you is out of how many they TESTED, not how many you HAVE.  So 3 out of 11 means they removed and tested 11 lymph nodes, and 3 of those came back positive for cancerous cells.  You still have hundreds more in your body that weren't tested and in all likelihood at not impacted.  They test the nodes closest to the main tumor and nearby accessible ones.  Different surgeons seem to take a differing amount, and location also matters.  For example, because my tumor was in the small intestine, my surgeon took fewer nodes than he would have for colon cancer simply because there are fewer in that particular area.

    I hope that helps!

    Thanks!

    It does help, thank you. I thought everyone would have the same number in a certain area. So much of all of this is confsuing. They tell you things but often it's not enough or you don't know what to ask. It doesn't make a difference in the big picture how many we have but I feel like the more I know the more power I have over it all even though it really changes nothing.

  • Helen321
    Helen321 Member Posts: 1,460 Member
    #8
    RickMurtagh said:

    less

    i am not sure, but i know i have seven less than when i started...

    best wishes,

    rick

    lol Rick, you are just too

    lol Rick, you are just too funny.  I really have to read my surgical report because I don't know how many I'm down.  I did know right after surgery.  Darn lymph nodes.

  • Helen321
    Helen321 Member Posts: 1,460 Member
    #9
    JanJan63 said:

    Thanks!

    It does help, thank you. I thought everyone would have the same number in a certain area. So much of all of this is confsuing. They tell you things but often it's not enough or you don't know what to ask. It doesn't make a difference in the big picture how many we have but I feel like the more I know the more power I have over it all even though it really changes nothing.

    Part of it is that our

    Part of it is that our parents called them glands growing up.  My mom would say I had swollen glands in my neck.  Well those glands are lymph nodes.  I'm going to start using better terminology with my kids so they'll know alternative terms.  I think it's also interesting that for the first week of having it, I didn't actually know what cancer is.  I had to look it up.  I then had to explain it to dozens of others who didn't know what it was either, they just knew people go it.  The other day my friend told me she had cancer and asked me for advice.  I said step one, do you know what cancer is?  She did not.  You can't fight it unless you know what it is you're fighting so we got through lesson one. 

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