Incidence of occult pN2 disease following resection and mediastinal lymph node dissection in clinical stage I lung cancer patients Journal Article


Authors: Bille, A.; Woo, K. M.; Ahmad, U.; Rizk, N. P.; Jones, D. R.
Article Title: Incidence of occult pN2 disease following resection and mediastinal lymph node dissection in clinical stage I lung cancer patients
Abstract: OBJECTIVES: Early clinical stage (T1 and T2) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is commonly treated with anatomic lung resection and lymph node sampling or dissection. The aims of this study were to evaluate the incidence and the distribution of occult N2 disease according to tumour location and the short- and long-term outcomes. METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of patients with clinical stage I NSCLC who underwent anatomic lung resection and lymphadenectomy. Mediastinal lymphadenectomy (ML) was defined as resection of at least 2 mediastinal stations, always including station 7 lymph nodes. Patients who had a lobe-specific lymphadenectomy were excluded. RESULTS: One thousand six hundred and sixty-seven consecutive patients met inclusion criteria and were included. Overall, 9% (146/1667) of the patients had occult pN2 disease. At multivariable analysis, adenocarcinoma histology and vascular invasion were independently associated with greater risk of occult pN2 disease. In left and right upper lobe tumours, station 7 nodes were involved in 5 and 13% of pN2 positive cases, respectively. Station 5 and station 2/4 nodes were involved in 29 and 18% of left and right lower lobe pN2 tumours, respectively. There was no postoperative mortality, and postoperative morbidity was 28%. The median overall survival was 77.4 months. N0 patients had a median overall survival of 83.7 months vs 48.0 months and 37.9 months in N1 and N2 populations, respectively (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Sixteen percent of pN2 patients had mediastinal lymph node metastasis beyond the lobe-specific lymphatic drainage. We recommend a complete lymphadenectomy be performed, even in clinical stage I NSCLC. © The Author 2017.
Keywords: survival; lymphadenectomy; pathological n2 disease
Journal Title: European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery
Volume: 51
Issue: 4
ISSN: 1010-7940
Publisher: Oxford University Press  
Date Published: 2017-04-01
Start Page: 674
End Page: 679
Language: English
DOI: 10.1093/ejcts/ezw400
PROVIDER: scopus
PUBMED: 28200091
PMCID: PMC5848815
DOI/URL:
Notes: Article -- Export Date: 2 May 2017 -- Source: Scopus
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MSK Authors
  1. Nabil Rizk
    139 Rizk
  2. Usman Ahmad
    9 Ahmad
  3. David Randolph Jones
    417 Jones
  4. Kaitlin Marie Woo
    101 Woo
  5. Andrea   Bille
    5 Bille