Clinical value of lymph node dissection for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma / 中华肝胆外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To evaluate the clinical value of lymph node dissection (LND) for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) after surgical resection.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted on the clinical data of 156 patients who underwent surgery for ICC in Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital of Naval Military Medical University from November 2010 to December 2017, including 94 males and 62 females, aged (60.0±9.5) years. Curative surgery was performed in 114 cases. Of 64 cases were in stage Ⅰ according to American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC), including 38 cases of non-lymph node dissection (NLND) and 26 cases of LND; 21 cases were in AJCC stage Ⅱ, including 11 cases of NLND and 10 cases of LND; 22 cases were in AJCC stage Ⅲb, including 14 cases of LND and 8 cases of lymph node resection (LNR); 5 cases were in AJCC stage Ⅲa, 2 cases were in AJCC stage Ⅳ. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used for the risk factors of ICC prognosis. The log-rank test compared the survival rates of the two groups.Results:Cox multivariate analysis indicated that lymph node metastasis was independent risk factors for prognosis in patients with ICC ( HR=1.96, 95% CI: 1.09-3.55, P=0.026). A total of 114 patients were included in the curative surgery group. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates of the negative lymph node group ( n=91) were 65.9%, 47.3% and 35.6%, respectively, which were significantly better than those of the positive lymph node group ( n=23) who had 1-, 3-, 5-year OS rates of 56.5%, 17.7% and 0, respectively (χ 2=8.11, P=0.004 ). In stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ patients, there were no significant differences in 1-, 3-, 5-year OS rates between the NLND group and the LND group (both P>0.05 ). In stage Ⅲb patients, the LND group had 1-, 3-, 5-year OS rates of 71.4%, 29.8% and 0, respectively, significantly better than those of the LNR group who had 1-, 3-, 5-year OS rates of 37.5%, 0 and 0, respectively (χ 2=6.45, P=0.011). Conclusions:Lymph node metastasis is an independent risk factor affecting the prognosis of ICC. Lymph node dissection should be performed cautiously in ICC with AJCC stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ, while routine lymph node dissection is recommended in ICC with AJCC stage Ⅲb.