Prevalence and location of nodal metastases in distal esophageal adenocarcinoma confined to the wall: implications for therapy.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to characterize the prevalence and location of regional lymph node metastases in adenocarcinoma confined to the esophagal wall, to determine the extent of dissection required, and to investigate the applicability of nonoperative therapy.


METHODS
Histologic evaluation of the resected specimens after en bloc esophagogastrectomy with mediastinal and abdominal lymphadenectomy was performed on 37 patients with adenocarcinoma confined to the esophageal wall. Follow-up was complete in all patients (median 24 months).


RESULTS
Fifteen patients (41%) had intramucosal tumors. Twelve (32%) had submucosal tumors and 10 (27%) had muscular invasion. The prevalence of regional lymph node metastases (15/37 patients, 41%) increased progressively with depth of tumor invasion, with involved nodes identified in 80% of patients with muscular invasion. Lymph node metastases were also more common at distant node stations in intramuscular tumors (5/10, 50%). Actuarial survival for the entire group was 63% at 5 years. Recurrence was identified in 6 of the 37 patients (16%), with the risk of recurrence correlating with tumor depth.


CONCLUSIONS
Tumor depth is a strong predictor of the probabilities of regional lymph node metastases, the likelihood of involvement of distant node groups, and the risk of recurrence. Patients with invasion of the muscular wall are at particularly high risk. En bloc esophagectomy with mediastinal and abdominal lymphadenectomy has the highest likelihood of achieving an R0 resection. The long-term survival and low recurrence rate achieved with an en bloc esophagectomy emphasizes the importance of an aggressive lymph node dissection to remove all potentially involved nodes.
Nigro
J J
JJ
University of Southern California, Department of Surgery, Los Angeles, Calif.90033-4612, USA.
Hagen
J A
JA
DeMeester
T R
TR
DeMeester
S R
SR
Peters
J H
JH
Oberg
S
S
Theisen
J
J
Kiyabu
M
M
Crookes
P F
PF
Bremner
C G
CG
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D016629:Esophagectomy; D004943:Esophagogastric Junction; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome