an increasing trendP <0.05
Supplementary eFigure 9 (Supplemental Digital Content 2, http://links.lww.com/JS9/D483 ) demonstrates an increasing trend in the number of lymph node metastases with higher mpT stages (mpT1: 3.0±3.6 nodes, mpT2: 6.9±8.9 nodes, mpT3: 9.2±9.2 nodes, P <0.05), suggesting that mpT staging can differentiate the number of lymph node metastases.