Lymph node dissection for patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in China: a meta-analysis / 中华肝胆外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To systematically review the profile of lymph node dissection (LND) for patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) in China.Methods:Using the key words "intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma" "intrahepatic cholangiocellular carcinoma" "lymph node dissection" "lymphadenec-tomy" "lymph node metastasis", the databases including China Zhiwang, Wanfang, Weipu, Sinomed, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane Library were systematically searched. Cohort studies or randomized controlled clinical trials with intraoperative LND documentation and with analysis on the clinicopathologic characteristics or prognostic influences on patients with ICC were included into this meta-analysis from the date of database creation to April 20, 2022. The risk of bias in non-randomized controlled trials was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. A meta-analysis of preoperative imaging lymph node enlargement rates, LND rates, and pathological lymph node metastasis rates were performed using R software.Results:Thirty-three relevant studies that met the systematic evaluation criteria were included, all of which were retrospective cohort studies. All these publications were of medium to high quality. Patients’ enrollment ranged from 1993 to 2020. Patients were enrolled from 20 provinces/autonomous regions/municipalities with a total of 39 medical centers and 4 278 patients. The meta-analysis indicated that the LND rate, preoperative imaging lymph node enlargement rate, pathological lymph node metastasis rate were 47.8%(95% CI 41.3%-54.3%), 18.5%(95% CI 7.5%-29.6%) and 51.2%(95% CI 43.8%-58.6%), respectively. Subgroup analysis showed the LND rate was 36.0%(95% CI 27.0%-45.0%) in studies with a median year of enrollment before 2010, 48.3% (95% CI 38.1%-58.6%) in studies from 2010 to 2017, and 53.3%(95% CI 43.3%-63.2%) in studies after 2017. The LND rates were statistically different in the studies in the different periods of patient enrollment ( P=0.032). Conclusion:The meta-analysis indicated that the overall LND rate for ICC in China was not high but showed an increasing tendency.