• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.19-28
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• 2020

Gastrectomy with lymph node dissection remains the gold standard for curative treatment of gastric cancer. Dissection of splenic hilar lymph nodes has been included as a part of D2 lymph node dissection for proximal gastric cancer. Previously, pancreatico-splenectomy has been performed for dissecting splenic hilar lymph nodes, followed by pancreas-preserving splenectomy and spleen-preserving lymphadenectomy. However, the necessity of routine splenectomy or splenic hilar lymph node dissection has been under debate due to the increased morbidity caused by splenectomy and the poor prognostic feature of splenic hilar lymph node metastasis. In contrast, the relatively high incidence of splenic hilar lymph node metastasis, survival advantage, and therapeutic value of splenic hilar lymph node dissection in some patient subgroups, as well as the effective use of novel technologies, still supports the necessity and applicability of splenic hilar lymph node dissection. In this review, we aimed to evaluate the need for splenic hilar lymph node dissection and suggest the subgroup of patients with favorable outcomes.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.183-186
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• 2010

Purpose : Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is known for malignant tumor which has a favorable prognosis and long-term survival. Although the prognosis for patients with PTC is generally good, PTC tends to have highly metastatic property. The purpose of this study was to analyze the central compartment lymph node in papillary thyroid cancer with no lymph node metastasis clinically and to assess the significance of prophylactic node dissection. Methods : A retrospective review was carried out in 394 patients with PTC who underwent surgery for the period from January 2004 to December 2006. The positive rate of the lymph node metastasis was analyzed. The relations between the central compartment lymph nodes and the patients' age, gender, tumor size, exrathyroidal extension(ETE), multifocality, and bilaterality were comparatively analyzed in PTC patients with preoperative no lymph node metastasis. Results : The enrolled patients were 40 male and 354 female cases. The 118 cases of them were found to have cervical lymph node metastasis. The mean age was 46 years(range, 15-77years). Tumor size(p=0.000), ETE(p=0.001), multifocality(p=0.014), and bilaterality(p=0.001) were significantly related factors for cervical lymph node metastasis clinically in papillary thyroid cancer. However, age and gender were not significantly related with lymph node metastasis. Conclusion : Although no lymph node metastasis clinically, prophylactic neck node dissection can be performed to avoid risks of local recurrence and reoperation in the light of PTC nature. The pathological status and high positive rate of central compartment lymph node relate to tumor size and extrathyroidal extension. Close surveillance for nodal status is required in follow-up.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.4719-4722
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• 2015

Background: This study aimed to determine the utility and a cut-off level of serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag) to predict lymph node metastasis in locally advanced cervical cancer cases. We also investigated the correlation between SCC-Ag level and lymph node status. Materials and Methods: From June 2009 to June 2014, 232 patients with cervical cancer stage IB2-IVA, who were treated at Ramathibodi Hospital, were recruited. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to identify the best cut-off point of SCC-Ag level to predict lymph node metastasis. Quantile regression was performed to evaluate the correlation between SCC-Ag levels and pelvic lymph node metastasis, paraaortic lymph node metastasis, and parametrial involvement as well as tumor size. Results: Pelvic lymph node metastasis and paraaortic lymph node metastasis were diagnosed in 46.6% and 20.1% of the patients, respectively. The median SCC-Ag level was 6 ng/mL (range, 0.5 to 464.6 ng/mL). The areas under ROC curves between SCC-Ag level and pelvic lymph node metastasis, paraaotic lymph node metastasis, parametrial involvements were low. SCC-Ag level was significantly correlated with paraaortic lymph node status (p=0.045) but not with pelvic lymph node status and parametrial involvement. SCC-Ag level was also related to the tumor diameter (p<0.05). Conclusions: SCC-Ag level is not a good predictor for pelvic and paraaortic lymph node metastasis. However, it is still beneficial to assess the tumor burden of squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.21
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• pp.9233-9239
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• 2014

Background: We aimed to evaluate the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) expression discordance in matched pairs of primary breast cancer and lymph node metastasis specimens and determine the effect of discordance on prognosis. Materials and Methods: Among all patients diagnosed with lymph node metastases from 2004 to 2007, primary tumors and paired lymph node metastases were resected from 209 patients. The status of ER, PR, and HER2 expression was analyzed immunohistochemically in 200, 194, and 193 patients, respectively. Discordance was correlated with prognosis. Results: Biomarker discordance between primary tumors and paired lymph node metastases was 25.0% (50/200) for ER status, 28.9% (56/194) for PR status, and 14.0% (27/193) for HER2 status. ER positivity was a significant independent predictor of improved survival when analyzed in primary tumors and lymph node metastases. Patients with PR-positive primary tumors and paired lymph node metastases displayed significantly enhanced survival compared to patients with PR-positive primary tumors and PR-negative lymph node metastases. Patients with ER- and PR-positive primary tumors and paired lymph node metastases who received endocrine therapy after surgery displayed significantly better survival than those not receiving endocrine therapy. Similalry treated patients with PR-negative primary tumors and PR-positive paired lymph node metastases also displayed better survival than those not receiving endocrine therapy. Conclusions: Biomarker discordance was observed in matched pairs of primary tumors and lymph node metastases. Such cases displayed poor survival. Thus, it is important to reassess receptor biomarkers used for lymph node metastases.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.13
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• pp.5371-5375
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• 2014

Background: An accurate assessment of potential lymph node metastasis is important for the appropriate treatment of early gastric cancers. Therefore, this study analyzed predictive factors associated with lymph node metastasis and identified differences between mucosal and submucosal gastric cancers. Materials and Methods: A total of 518 early gastric cancer patients who underwent radical gastrectomy were reviewed in this study. Clinicopathological features were analyzed to identify predictive factors for lymph node metastasis. Results: The rate of lymph node metastasis in early gastric cancer was 15.3% overall, 3.3% for mucosal cancer, and 23.5% for submucosal cancer. Using univariate analysis, risk factors for lymph node metastasis were identified as tumor location, tumor size, depth of tumor invasion, histological type and lymphovascular invasion. Multivariate analysis revealed that tumor size >2 cm, submucosal invasion, undifferentiated tumors and lymphovascular invasion were independent risk factors for lymph node metastasis. When the carcinomas were confined to the mucosal layer, tumor size showed a significant correlation with lymph node metastasis. On the other hand, histological type and lymphovascular invasion were associated with lymph node metastasis in submucosal carcinomas. Conclusions: Tumor size >2 cm, submucosal tumor, undifferentiated tumor and lymphovascular invasion are predictive factors for lymph node metastasis in early gastric cancer. Risk factors are quite different depending on depth of tumor invasion. Endoscopic treatment might be possible in highly selective cases.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7049-7054
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• 2014

Background: Almost half of the breast cancer patients with positive sentinel lymph nodes have no additional disease in the remaining axillary lymph nodes. This group of patients do not benefit from complete axillary lymph node dissection. This study was designed to assess the clinicopathologic factors that predict non-sentinel lymph node metastasis in Iranian breast cancer patients with positive sentinel lymph nodes. Materials and Methods: The records of patients who underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy, between 2003 and 2012, were reviewed. Patients with at least one positive sentinel lymph node who underwent completion axillary lymph node dissection were enrolled in the present study. Demographic and clinicopathologic characteristics including age, primary tumor size, histological and nuclear grade, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, extracapsular invasion, and number of harvested lymph nodes, were evaluated. Results: The data of 167 patients were analyzed. A total of 92 (55.1%) had non-sentinel lymph node metastasis. Univariate analysis of data revealed that age, primary tumor size, histological grade, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, extracapsular invasion, and the number of positive sentinel lymph nodes to the total number of harvested sentinel lymph nodes ratio, were associated with non-sentinel lymph node metastasis. After logistic regression analysis, age (OR=0.13; 95% CI, 0.02-0.8), primary tumor size (OR=7.7; 95% CI, 1.4-42.2), lymphovascular invasion (OR=19.4; 95% CI, 1.4-268.6), extracapsular invasion (OR=13.3; 95% CI, 2.3-76), and the number of positive sentinel lymph nodes to the total number of harvested sentinel lymph nodes ratio (OR=20.2; 95% CI, 3.4-121.9), were significantly associated with non-sentinel lymph node metastasis. Conclusions: According to this study, age, primary tumor size, lymphovascular invasion, extracapsular invasion, and the ratio of positive sentinel lymph nodes to the total number of harvested sentinel lymph nodes, were found to be independent predictors of non-sentinel lymph node metastasis.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.258-262
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• 2021

Mediastinal lymph node dissection is an important part of lung cancer surgery that provides accurate nodal staging and may improve survival outcomes. The minimally invasive approach, such as video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) lobectomy for patients with non-small cell lung cancer, has become a standard operation worldwide. VATS mediastinal lymph node dissection should be thorough and accurate to ensure the completeness of lung cancer surgery. Herein, the author describes techniques for VATS mediastinal lymph node dissection.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7719-7724
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• 2014

Background: Lymph node metastasis is believed to be a dependent negative prognostic factor of esophageal cancer. To explore detection methods with high sensitivity and accuracy for metastases to regional and distant lymph nodes in the clinic is of great significance. This study focused on clinical application of FDG PET/CT and contrast-enhanced multiple-slice helical computed tomography (MSCT) in lymph node staging of esophageal cancer. Materials and Methods: One hundred and fifteen cases were examined with enhanced 64-slice-MSCT scan, and FDG PET/CT imaging was conducted for neck, chest and upper abdomen within one week. The primary lesion, location and numbers of metastatic lymph nodes were observed. Surgery was performed within one week after FDG PET/CT detection. All resected lesions were confirmed histopathologically as the gold standard. Comparative analysis of the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy based on FDG PET/CT and MSCT was conducted. Results: There were 946 lymph node groups resected during surgery from 115 patients, and 221 were confirmed to have metastasis pathologically. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy of FDG PET/CT in detecting lymph node metastasis were 74.7%, 97.2% and 92.0%, while with MSCT they were 64.7%, 96.4%, and 89.0%, respectively. A significance difference was observed in sensitivity (p=0.030), but not the others (p>0.05). The accuracy of FDG PET/CT in detecting regional lymph node with or without metastasis were 91.9%, as compared to 89.4% for MSCT, while FDG PET/CT and MSCT values for detecting distant lymph node with or without metastasis were 94.4% and 94.7%. No significant difference was observed for either regional or distant lymph node metastasis. Additionally, for detecting para-esophageal lymph nodes metastasis, the sensitivity of FDG PET/CT was 72%, compared with 54.7% for MSCT (p=0.029). Conclusions: FDG PET/CT is more sensitive than MSCT in detecting lymph node metastasis, especially for para-esophageal lymph nodes in esophageal cancer cases, although no significant difference was observed between FDG PET/CT and MSCT in detecting both regional and distant lymph node metastasis. However, enhanced MSCT was found to be of great value in distinguishing false negative metastatic lymph nodes from FDG PET/CT. The combination of FDG PET/CT with MSCT should improve the accuracy in lymph node metastasis staging of esophageal cancer.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.81-89
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• 1990

A total of 178 patients with primary lung cancer who had undergone complete resection of the tumor in combination with complete mediastinal lymphadenectomy were reviewed at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery of Yonsei Medical Center from January 1980 through July 1989. Materials; 1. There were 45 men and 33 women ranging of age from 25 to 78 years with a mean age of 55.4 years. 2. Histological types were squamous carcinoma in 115 cases [64.6%] adenocarcinoma in 42 cases [23.6 %], bronchioloalveolar carcinoma in 9 cases [5.1%], large cell carcinoma in 8 cases [4.5 %] and small cell carcinoma in 4 cases [2.2%] Results were summarized as follows: 1. The size of primary tumor was not directly proportional to the frequency of mediastinal lymph node metastasis. [P =0.0567] 2. The histologic types of the primary tumor did not related to the incidence of mediastinal lymph node metastasis. [P >0.19] 3. The chance of mediastinal lymph node metastasis in the case with lung cancer located in right middle lobe[31.8%, N=22] and left lower lobe [31.4%, N=32] were the highest and the lowest was the one located in right lower lobe, while over all incidence of mediastinal lymph node metastasis in this series was 25.4 % [N=55]. 4. The rate of mediastinal lymph node metastasis without evidence of regional and hilar lymph node metastasis was 13%. [N=23] The chance of mediastinal lymph node involvement without N1 lymph node metastasis was 16.3 % [N=17] in both upper lobes and 8.2 % [N=6] in both lower lobes. It was statistically significant that the tumors in the upper lobes had greater chance of the mediastinal lymph node metastasis without N1 than the tumors in the lower lobes. 5. In this series majority of the patients with lung cancer the mediastinal lymph node metastasis from the tumor in each pulmonary lobes usually occurs via ipsilateral tracheobronchial and paratracheal lymphatic pathway. Especially the lung cancer located in lower lobes can metastasize to subcarinal, paraesophageal and inferior pulmonary ligamental lymph node through the lymphatic pathway of inferior pulmonary ligament. It can be speculated that in some cases of this series otherwise mediastinal lymph node metastasis can also occur with direct invasion to the parietal pleura and to the mediastinal lymph node via direct subpleural lymphatic pathway .

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2015

Recently, lymph node micrometastasis has been evaluated for its prognostic value in gastric cancer. Lymph node micrometastasis cannot be detected via a usual pathologic examination, but it can be detected by using some other techniques including immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay. With the development of such diagnostic techniques, the detection rate of lymph node micrometastasis is constantly increasing. Although the prognostic value of lymph node micrometastasis remains debatable, its clinical impact is apparently remarkable in both early and advanced gastric cancer. At present, studies on the prognostic value of lymph node micrometastasis are evolving to overcome its current limitations and extend the scope of its application.