摘要
Objective: To study the relationship between lymph node metastases in esophageal carcinoma and its prognosis. Methods: We obtained 1500 resected lymph nodes from the specimen of 86 patients with resected esophageal carcinoma and checked these lymph nodes by routine histopathology. Additiionally, frozen tissue sections of 540 lymph nodes classified as tumor-free by routine histopathology were screened for micrometastases by immunohistology with the monoclonal antibody Ber-EP4. Results: Forty-two patients (49%) had pN0 disease, and 61 patients (71%) had lymph node micrometastases detected by immunohistochemistry, skip metastases detected by routine histopathology were present in 26%(11/42) of pN0 and 41%(18/44) of pN1 patients. Skipping of micrometastases detected by immunohistochemistry was found in 71%(61/86). Twenty-six of 42 patients (62%) with tumor staged as pN0 and 35 of 44 patients (80%) with stage pN1 had nodal micrometastasis. The presence of micrometastases was associated with a significantly decreased relapse-free time and overall survival (P<0.0001 and P=0.004, respectively). Conclusion: Lymph node skip metastases are a frequent event in esophageal carcinoma. Extensive lymph node sampling, in conjunction with immunohistochemical detection, will lead to accurate staging and prognosis.
Objective: To study the relationship between lymph node metastases in esophageal carcinoma and its prognosis. Methods: We obtained 1500 resected lymph nodes from the specimen of 86 patients with resected esophageal carcinoma and checked these lymph nodes by routine histopathology. Additiionally, frozen tissue sections of 540 lymph nodes classified as tumor-free by routine histopathology were screened for micrometastases by immunohistology with the monoclonal antibody Ber-EP4. Results: Forty-two patients (49%) had pN0 disease, and 61 patients (71%) had lymph node micrometastases detected by immunohistochemistry, skip metastases detected by routine histopathology were present in 26%(11/42) of pN0 and 41%(18/44) of pN1 patients. Skipping of micrometastases detected by immunohistochemistry was found in 71%(61/86). Twenty-six of 42 patients (62%) with tumor staged as pN0 and 35 of 44 patients (80%) with stage pN1 had nodal micrometastasis. The presence of micrometastases was associated with a significantly decreased relapse-free time and overall survival (P<0.0001 and P=0.004, respectively). Conclusion: Lymph node skip metastases are a frequent event in esophageal carcinoma. Extensive lymph node sampling, in conjunction with immunohistochemical detection, will lead to accurate staging and prognosis.
