ObjectiveTo discuss whether central lymph node dissection (CLND) should be performed for papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) patients. MethodsThe related domestic and foreign literatures were retrieved, the necessity of CLND and the risk of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury in CLND were reviewed, and the application value of intraoperative nerve monitoring (IONM) in CLND were analyzed. Results① CLND can reduce the recurrence rate of PTC, improve postoperative survival rate, ease the difficulty of reoperation, and help to clarify tumor stage. ② CLND can increase the risk of RLN injury. ③ Application of INOM can decrease the risk of RLN injury. ConclusionsThe application of IONM during CLND effectively decrease the risk of RLN injury for surgeons, especially low seniority surgeons, and improve the survival quality and the prognosis. This combination will promote the implementation of routine CLND therapeutic strategy in thyroid cancer patients.
ObjectiveTo summarize the new ideas and new instruments in thyroid surgery. MethodsRelated literatures were reviewed and analyzed. ResultsTotal thyroidectomy had become the preferred option for differentiated thyroid cancer and multiple nodule goiter. The key change of surgery was from recurrent laryngeal nerve-protection to parathyroid-protection. Harmonic scalpel, bipolar coagulation forceps and Ligasure were used to thyroid surgery, which could shorten operation time and reduce operative bleeding. ConclusionThe ideas and techniques of thyroid surgery have changed, total thyroidectomy and parathyroid protection are being paid more and more attentions, and new instruments are used more extensively in thyroid surgery.
Objective To compare lymph node sampling (LN-S) and lobe-specific lymph node dissection (L-SLD) in the clinical efficacy and safety for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods PubMed, Medline, EMbase, Web of Science and The Cochrane Library databases were searched up to March 2017 for English language studies. We collected randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies (CS) which used the systematic mediastinal lymph node dissection (SMLD) and LN-S or L-SLD for the treatment of NSCLC. Direct meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software and indirect meta-analysis with ITC software after two researchers screened the literature, extracted the data and evaluated the risk of bias independently. Results A total of 18 articles were included (4 RCTs and 14 CS, and 10 714 patients). Meta-analysis results showed that in the CS, compared with the the SMLD group, overall survival increased in the L-SLD group (HR=0.99, 95%CI 0.78 to 1.25, P=0.92), and overall survival decreased in the LN-S group with significant difference in CS (HR=1.43, 95%CI 1.17 to 1.75, P=0.000 4), but was not statistically significant in RCT (P=0.35). In terms of disease-free survival, there was no significant difference between the SMLD group and the LN-S group (HR=1.25, 95%CI 0.90, 1.62, P=0.10) as well as the L-SLD group (HR=1.15, 95%CI 0.92 to 1.43, P=0.23) in the CS. There was no significant difference in the local recurrence rate or distant metastasis rate between the non-systematic lymph node dissection (NSMLD) and SMLD in CS and RCTs (CS: P=0.43, P=0.39; RCT: P=0.43, P=0.10). There was no significant difference in the postoperative complications between NSMLD and SMLD in the CS (OR=0.79, 95%CI0.58 to 1.09, P=0.15) and RCTs (OR=0.36, 95%CI 0.09 to 1.45, P=0.15). Indirect meta-analysis showed that risk of death decreased by 31% and risk of recurrence by 35% in the L-SLD group compared with the LN-S group (HR=0.69, 95% CI 0.51 to 0.95, P=0.46; HR=0.65, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.30, P=0.72), but the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion For early-stage NSCLC, L-SLD is not statistically different from SMLD in terms of survival; however, the overall survival of LN-S is lower than that of systematic lymphadenectomy. Indirect meta-analysis shows that L-SLD reduces the risk of death and recurrence risk compared with LN-S. There is no evidence to support both direct comparison of the prognosis of LN-S and L-SLD, therefore further prospective studies are still needed to verify.
ObjectiveTo review the lymph node metastasis pattern and its dissection value among adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (AEG) patients, in order to assist suitable individualized lymph node dissection strategies for diverse AEG patients. MethodsThe reports about lymph node metastasis and the value of dissection of AEG worldwide in recent years were retrieved and summarized. ResultsThe sites with higher lymph node metastasis rate of AEG included No.1, No.2, No.3, No.7 lymph nodes, etc. and sites with higher lymph node metastasis rate often benefit from dissection. Lymph node metastasis was related to factors such as tumor size and location, and lymph node dissection at individual sites is still controversial. ConclusionThe lymph node dissection range of AEG is highly controversial, especially for Siewert type Ⅱ AEG, which still requires prospective multicenter studies to prove.
ObjectiveTo analyze the factors influencing axillary pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) and to provide the possibility of exempting axillary surgery for patients with better pathological efficacy of primary breast lesions after NAT. MethodsAccording to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the patients with breast cancer admitted to the Department of Breast Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were diagnosed with ipsilateral axillary lymph node metastasis of breast cancer and the NAT cycle was completed according to standards. All patients underwent axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) after NAT. The therapeutic effect of primary breast lesions was evaluated by Miller-Payne (MP) grading system. The axillary pCR was judged according to whether there was residual positive axillary lymph nodes after ALND. The unvariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to analyze the risk factors affecting the axillary pCR. At the same time, the possibility of exempting axillary surgery after NAT in the MP grade 5 or in whom without ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) was evaluated. The ALND was considered to exempt when the negative predictive value was 90% or more and false negative <10% or almost same. ResultsA total of 111 eligible patients with breast cancer were gathered in the study, 64 of whom with axillary pCR. There were 43 patients of MP grade 5 without DCIS after NAT, 41 of whom were axillary pCR. The univariate analysis results showed that the estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor statuses, molecular type, NAT regimen, and MP grade were associated with the axillary pCR after NAT, then the logistic regression multivariate analysis results showed that the MP grade ≤3 and MP grade 4 decreased the probability of axillary pCR as compared with the MP grade 5 [OR=0.105, 95%CI (0.028, 0.391), P=0.001; OR=0.045, 95%CI (0.012, 0.172), P<0.001]. There were 51 patients of MP grade 5 after NAT, 46 of whom were axillary pCR. The negative predictive value and the false negative rate of MP grade 5 on predicting the postoperative residual axillary lymph nodes were 90.2% [95%CI (81.7%, 98.6%)] and 10.6% [95%CI (1.5%, 19.8%)], respectively, which of MP grade 5 without DCIS were 95.3% [95%CI (88.8%, 101.9%)] and 4.3% [95%CI (–1.7%, 10.2%)] , respectively. ConclusionsThe probability of axillary pCR for the patient with higher MP grade of breast primary after NAT is higher. It is probable of exempting axillary surgery when MP grade is 5 after NAT.
ObjectiveTo systemically evaluate safety and effectiveness of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) and conventional open distal gastrostomy(CODG) with D2 lymph node dissection for Chinese patients with distal gastric cancer. MethodsLiterature were searched in PubMed database, the Cochrane Library, China science citation database (CSCD), Wanfang database, China science and technology journal database (CSTJ), China biomedical literature database (CBM), and China academic journal network publishing database (CAJD) to identify clinical random controlled trials, comparing safety and effectiveness of LADG and CODG with D2 lymph node dissection for Chinese patients with distal gastric cancer. The retrieval time was from the inception to Jun. 2013. Meta-analysis was performed by Review Manager 5.2 software. ResultsA total of 7 clinical random controlled trials including 548 patients were analyzed. Compared with CODG group, LADG group had less blood loss (MD=-94.02, 95% CI:-140.96--47.07), shorter postoperative hospital stay(MD=-3.66, 95% CI:-5.76--1.57), earlier postoperative ambulation time(MD=-1.95, 95% CI:-2.74--1.17), earlier postoperative exhaust time (MD=-1.67, 95% CI:-2.05--1.30), lower incidence of complications(OR=0.26, 95% CI:0.14-0.51), P<0.050. But the operation time was longer in LADG group (MD=35.01, 95% CI:10.41-59.61, P=0.005). There was no significant difference between LADG group and CODG group on number of lymph node which were dissected during the operation (MD=-0.24, 95% CI:-0.99-0.51, P=0.530). ConclusionThe short-term outcome and safety of LADG for Chinese patients with distal gastric cancer is superior to CODG, but LADG prolongs the operation time and its long-term outcome should be proved by further outcomes of clinical controlled trials.
Objective To explore the axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) could be safely exempted in younger breast cancer patients (≤40 years of age) who receiving breast-conserving surgery combined with radiotherapy in metastasis of 1–2 sentinel lymph node (SLN) and T1–T2 stage. Methods The data of pathological diagnosis of invasive breast cancer from 2004 to 2015 in SEER database were extracted. Patients were divided into SLN biopsy group (SLNB group) and ALND group according to axillary treatment. Propensity matching score (PSM) method was used to match and equalize the clinicopathological features between two groups at 1∶1. Multivariate Cox proportional risk model was used to analyze the relationship between axillary management and breast cancer specific survival (BCSS), and stratified analysis was performed according to clinicopathological features. Results A total of 1 236 patients with a median age of 37 years (quartile: 34, 39 years) were included in the analysis, including 418 patients (33.8%) in the SLNB group and 818 patients (66.2%) in the ALND group. The median follow-up period was 82 months (quartile: 44, 121 months), and 111 cases (9.0%) died of breast cancer, including 33 cases (7.9%) in the SLNB group and 78 cases (9.5%) in the ALND group. The cumulative 5-year BCSS of the SLNB group and the ALND group were 90.8% and 93.4%, respectively, and the log-rank test showed no significant difference (χ2=0.70, P=0.401). After PSM, there were 406 cases in both the SLNB group and the ALND group. The cumulative 5-year BCSS rate in the ALND group was 4.1% higher than that in the SLNB group (94.8% vs. 90.7%). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis showed that ALND could further improve BCSS rate in younger breast cancer patients [HR=0.578, 95%CI (0.335, 0.998), P=0.049]. Stratified analyses showed that ALND improved BCSS in patients diagnosed before 2012 or with a character of lymph node macrometastases, histological grade G3/4, ER negative or PR negative. Conclusions It should be cautious to consider the elimination of ALND in the stage T1–T2 younger patients receiving breast-conserving surgery combined with radiotherapy when 1–2 SLNs positive, especially in patients with high degree of malignant tumor biological behavior or high lymph node tumor burden. Further prospective trials are needed to verify the question.
ObjectiveTo investigate the predictive value of recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph nodes (RLN) status for supraclavicular lymph node (SLN) metastasis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 83 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who underwent McKeown three-field lymphadenectomy from January 2017 to April 2018 in our hospital, including 53 males and 30 females with an average age of 64.07±7.05 years.ResultsThe SLN metastasis rate of the patients was 24.1%. The rate in the thoracic and abdominal metastases positive (N1-3) group and negative (N0) group was 37.8% and 13.0%, respectively, with a statistical difference (P<0.05). The rate of SLN metastasis was significantly different between the RLN metastasis positive (RLN+) and negative (RLN–) groups (39.1% vs. 18.3%, P<0.05). One side of RLN metastasis could lead to SLN metastasis on the opposite side. No correlation between the SLN metastasis and age, gender, location, differentiation degree, maximum tumor diameter, T-staging or histologic type was observed (P>0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that lymph node metastasis in chest or abdomen was an independent predictor of SLN metastasis.ConclusionRLN+ is not the independent predictor for SLN metastasis. SLN should be dissected in N1-3 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma without considering tumor location and T-staging. Bilateral SLN dissection should be recommended even if RLN metastasis is only unilateral.
Objective To summarize the clinical and research status in the surgical management of medullary thyroid carcinoma. Methods The related literatures on treatment of medullary thyroid carcinoma were collected and reviewed. Results A total thyroidectomy and dissection of the lymph nodes in the central compartment were effective treatments for patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma. The extent of lateral compartment lymph-node dissection did not reach an agreement. Prophylactic thyroidectomy was suggested for patients with a RET (rearranged during transfection) germline mutation. Palliative therapy was the main treatment of metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma. Conclusions Surgery is the mainstay of treatment for medullary thyroid carcinoma. The combination of preoperative assessment, genetic testing, and appropriate surgical strategy may improve the prognosis of patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma.
ObjectiveTo examine the high-risk factors and prognosis of patients with superior interlobar lymph nodes (11s nodes) metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) located in the right middle or lower lobe.MethodsThe clinical data of 157 patients with NSCLC in the right middle or lower lobe from January 2015 to July 2020 in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed, including 98 males and 59 females aged 23-86 (60.01±10.58) years. The patients underwent lobectomy and systemic lymph node dissection along with dissection of 11s nodes. They were divided into a 11s (+) group and a 11s (–) group according to whether the 11s nodes were involved.ResultsThere were 31 patients with invasion in the 11s nodes, and the overall incidence of metastasis was 19.75%, including 13.64% with middle lobe tumors and 20.74% with lower lobe tumors. The 2R+4R nodes involvement was the influencing factor associated with 11s nodes metastasis (P=0.026). The 7th nodes and the inferior mediastinal lymph nodes involvement were high-risk factors affecting the prognosis of patients (P<0.05). The 11s nodes metastasis had nothing to do with the location of the tumor, and it was not an independent factor affecting disease-free survival.ConclusionThe 11s nodes may be a transit for 2R+4R nodes metastasis in the right middle or lower lobe lung cancer, and the 11s nodes should be cleared in the surgical treatment for NSCLC in either the middle or lower lobe of the right lung. The influencing factors for disease-free survival after surgery for lung cancer in the right middle or lower lobe are the metastasis of the subcarinal lymph nodes and the inferior mediastinal lymph nodes.