Feasibility of a lateral region sentinel node biopsy of lower rectal cancer guided by indocyanine green using a near-infrared camera system.
BACKGROUND
A lateral pelvic lymph node dissection (LPLD) for lower rectal cancer may be beneficial for a limited number of patients. If sentinel node (SN) navigation surgery could be applied to lower rectal cancer, then unnecessary LPLDs could be avoided. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of lateral region SN biopsy by means of indocyanine green (ICG) visualized with a near-infrared camera system (Photodynamic Eye, PDE).


METHODS
This study investigated the existence of a lateral region SN in 25 patients with lower rectal cancer. ICG was injected around the tumor, and the lateral pelvic region was observed with PDE.


RESULTS
With PDE, the lymph nodes and lymph vessels that received ICG appeared as shining fluorescent spots and streams in the fluorescence image. This allowed the detection of not only tumor-negative SNs but also tumor-positive SNs as shining spots. The lateral SNs were detected in 6 of 6 T1 and T2 diseases and 17 of 19 T3 diseases. The lateral SNs were successfully identified in 23 (92%) of the 25 patients. The mean number of lateral SNs per patients was 2.1. Of the 23 patients, 6 patients underwent LPLD. Of the 3 patients who had a tumor-negative SN, all dissected lateral non-SNs were negative in all 3 cases.


CONCLUSIONS
We could detect the lateral SNs, not only in T1 and T2 disease, but also in T3 disease. Although this is only a preliminary study, the detection of lateral SNs in lower rectal cancer by means of the ICG fluorescence imaging system is considered to be a promising technique that may be used for determining the indications for performing LPLD.
Noura
Shingo
S
Department of Surgery, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases, 1-3-3 Nakamichi, Higashinari-ku, Osaka, Japan.
Ohue
Masayuki
M
Seki
Yosuke
Y
Tanaka
Koji
K
Motoori
Masaaki
M
Kishi
Kentaro
K
Miyashiro
Isao
I
Ohigashi
Hiroaki
H
Yano
Masahiko
M
Ishikawa
Osamu
O
Miyamoto
Yasuhide
Y
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004396:Coloring Agents; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007208:Indocyanine Green; D007259:Infrared Rays; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010388:Pelvis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D010781:Photography / Q000379:methods; D011379:Prognosis; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D004396:Coloring Agents; D007208:Indocyanine Green