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Discrepancy Between the Clinical and Final Pathological Findings of Lymph Node Metastasis in Superficial Esophageal Cancer

  • Thoracic Oncology
  • Published:
Annals of Surgical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Recent advances in endoscopic examinations have resulted in the detection of a larger number of early esophageal cancers; however, there have been many cases with clinically negative but pathologically positive lymph node metastasis (LNM). In this study, we aimed to evaluate the discrepancy between the clinical and pathological diagnoses of LNM in patients with cT1a-MM/cT1b N0M0 esophageal cancer, and assess LNM size in these patients to clarify the presence of LNM that cannot be detected with current modalities.

Methods

This study included 50 patients who underwent surgery for cT1a-MM/cT1b N0M0 thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma between January 2012 and November 2016 at our institution. The maximum size of involved LNs and metastatic nests were measured, and the distribution of LNM was investigated.

Results

Of the 50 patients, 13 (26%) had LNM on pathological examination. Lymphatic invasion was significantly more frequent in the LNM-positive group than in the LNM-negative group (p = 0.005). The median sizes of 28 involved LNs and metastatic nests were 3 and 1.6 mm, respectively. Of these LNs, 20 (71%) were classified as micrometastases (≤ 2 mm). The involved nodes were distributed across three fields.

Conclusions

There was a discrepancy between the clinical and final pathological findings of LNM in patients with cT1a-MM/cT1b N0M0 esophageal cancer. The detection of involved nodes with current modalities in these patients was difficult because of the small size of LNM. Therefore, continued strong consideration for extended LN dissection is necessary in these patients to ensure appropriate diagnosis and treatment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Junya Aoyama MD, Hirofumi Kawakubo MD, PhD, Shuhei Mayanagi MD, PhD, Kazumasa Fukuda MD, PhD, Tomoyuki Irino MD, PhD, Rieko Nakamura MD, PhD, Norihito Wada MD, PhD & Yuko Kitagawa MD, PhD

  2. Department of Radiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Tatsuya Suzuki MD, PhD

  3. Department of Pathology, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Kaori Kameyama MD, PhD

Authors
  1. Junya Aoyama MD
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  2. Hirofumi Kawakubo MD, PhD
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  3. Shuhei Mayanagi MD, PhD
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  4. Kazumasa Fukuda MD, PhD
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  5. Tomoyuki Irino MD, PhD
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  6. Rieko Nakamura MD, PhD
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  7. Norihito Wada MD, PhD
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  8. Tatsuya Suzuki MD, PhD
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  10. Yuko Kitagawa MD, PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hirofumi Kawakubo MD, PhD.

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Disclosures

Junya Aoyama, Hirofumi Kawakubo, Shuhei Mayanagi, Kazumasa Fukuda, Tomoyuki Irino, Rieko Nakamura, Norihito Wada, Tatsuya Suzuki, Kaori Kameyama, and Yuko Kitagawa report no conflict of interest in this work.

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Aoyama, J., Kawakubo, H., Mayanagi, S. et al. Discrepancy Between the Clinical and Final Pathological Findings of Lymph Node Metastasis in Superficial Esophageal Cancer. Ann Surg Oncol 26, 2874–2881 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-019-07498-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-019-07498-2

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