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Lymph Node Micrometastases in Lung Cancer

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Book cover Cancer Metastasis And The Lymphovascular System: Basis For Rational Therapy

Part of the book series: Cancer Treatment and Research ((CTAR,volume 135))

Lung cancer remains the most common cause of cancer-related death in Europe and the United States (9, 10). Nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) affects approximately 80% of all lung cancer patients (5, 9). Surgery remains the gold standard treatment for locoregional NSCLC, and pathological lymph node (pN) status has remained the strongest clinical prognostic characteristic in early stages of operable NSCLC (21, 23). However, even in early stages, the 5-year survival rate of N0 patients remains at only 60–70% after complete resection of the primary tumor (7, 17). This suggests that tumor cell dissemination occurs early and occult micrometastases or single disseminated tumor cells (DTC), which are not discovered by conventional histopathologic methods, may be present in the lymph nodes at the time of surgery (6, 16, 18, 22, 26). Detection of these cells might potentially improve clinical lymph node staging and help to identify patients who could benefit from adjuvant or neoadjuvant therapy.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Tumor Biology, University Medical Center, 20246, Hamburg, Germany

    Katharina E. Effenberger PhD & Klaus Pantel MD, PhD

  2. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, 79106, Freiburg, Germany

    Wulf Sienel MD

Authors
  1. Katharina E. Effenberger PhD
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  2. Wulf Sienel MD
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  3. Klaus Pantel MD, PhD
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of California San Francisco and UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center at Mount Zion, 1600 Divisadero Street, 94143, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Stanley P. L. Leong MD, FACS

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Effenberger, K.E., Sienel, W., Pantel, K. (2007). Lymph Node Micrometastases in Lung Cancer. In: Leong, S.P.L. (eds) Cancer Metastasis And The Lymphovascular System: Basis For Rational Therapy. Cancer Treatment and Research, vol 135. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-69219-7_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-69219-7_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-69218-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-69219-7

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