RT Journal
A1 Thirlby RC
T1 ROutine or selective endoscopic tattooing in colon resection for cancer—reply
JF Archives of Surgery
JO Archives of Surgery
YR 2011
FD February 1
VO 146
IS 2
SP 239
OP 240
DO 10.1001/archsurg.2010.321
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archsurg.2010.321
AB 
Drs Dawson and Wiebusch and I myself appreciate the interest of Dr Fujita in our study.1 Dr Fujita's comments reference a recently published study confirming that the issue of adequate nodal staging in patients with colorectal cancer in North America is not yet resolved: rates of adequate nodal staging in accredited cancer centers are much higher than those in nonaccredited institutions.2 We agree with his comments that many factors affect lymph node retrieval rates. In our study, we stated that the surgeon, the pathologist, and the patient and/or tumor biology all may influence the numbers of nodes resected and analyzed.