The relationship between number of metastatic lymph node and prognosis of thoracic-esophageal cancer patients treated with radical resection / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective To analyze the possible prognostic factors of thoracic-esophageal cancer patients with lymph node (LN) metastasis after esophagectomy plus three-field lymphadenectomy.Methods 590 esophageal cancer patients with LN metastasis after esophagectomy plus three-field lymphadenectomy were recruited from Jan.1993 to Mar.2007,and the prognostic factors and causes of postoperative failure were analyzed.Results Five-year survival in the whole sample was 29.6％.While the 5-year survival in different subgroups with 1-2,3-6 or ＞ 7 metastatic LNs were 41.2％,22.2％ and 7.0％ (x2 =62.158,P ＜0.0001),respectively.Univariate analysis showed that tumor site,disease length,T stage,number of metastatic LN and the seventh edition of AJCC staging system were prognostic factors.Multivariate analysis indicated that tumor site and number of metastatic LN were two independent prognostic factors.Conclusion Tumor site and number of metastatic LN were independent prognostic factors influencing the outcome of esophageal cancer.

The value of three-field lymphadenectomy for carcinoma of the esophagus / 中国癌症杂志

The three-field lymphadenectomy for carcinoma of the esophagus remains debatable. There are several aspects that the debate focuses on. Firstly, should the positive cervical lymph nodes be considered a regional(N1) or a distant( M1) site of disease for tumors of esophagus? Secondly, can the extended lymphadenectomy prolong survival? Thirdly, the increase in the morbidity rates.