The Range of Tumor Extension Should Have Precedence over the Location of the Deepest Tumor Center in Determining the Regional Lymph Node Grouping for Widely Extending Esophageal Carcinomas

Role of Lower Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Margin Location on Abdominal Lymph Node Metastasis Risk

Background: Different sites of esophageal cancer are accompanied by different regional lymph node metastasis (LNM) risks. We aimed to investigate the impact of a lower tumor margin on abdominal LNM risk. Methods: We enrolled patients who underwent esophagectomy for esophageal squamous carcinoma (ESCC) from 2014 to 2017 in West China Hospital. Overall survival (OS) analysis was performed. We measured the distance between the lower tumor margin and esophagogastric junction (LED) with upper gastrointestinal contrast-enhanced X-ray (UGCXR). Multivariate logistic regression analysis and propensity score matching (PSM) were performed to explore the relationship between LED and the risk of abdominal LNM. Abdominal LNM risk in ESCC was stratified based on the location of the lower tumor margin. A model predicting abdominal LNM risk was constructed and presented with a nomogram. Results: The included patients had an abdominal LNM rate of 48.29%. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, LED was identified as a risk factor for abdominal LNM. Subgroup analysis of middle ESCC showed that patients with an LED less than 10 cm had a significantly higher rate of abdominal LNM than those with an LED greater than 10 cm. The abdominal LNM rate in middle ESCC patients with an LED less than 10 cm was 32.2%, while it was 35.1% in lower ESCC patients whose lower tumor margin did not invade the esophagogastric junction (EGJ), which was comparable after PSM. Conclusions: LED could help surgeons evaluate the risk of abdominal LNM preoperatively and better guide dissection of abdominal lymph nodes according to risk level.

Mapping of lymph node dissection determined by the epicenter location and tumor extension for esophagogastric junction carcinoma

BACKGROUNDS

Previous studies identified the extent of lymph node dissection for esophagogastric junction (EGJ) carcinoma based on the metastatic incidence. The study aimed to determine the optimal extent and priority of lymphadenectomy based on the therapeutic efficacy from each station.

METHODS

The studies on the lymph node metastasis (LNM) and therapeutic efficacy index (EI) for EGJ carcinomas were identified until April 2022. The obligatory stations with the LNM rates over 5% and therapeutic EI exceeding 2% should be routinely resected for D2 dissection, whereas the optional stations with EI between 0.5% and 2% should be resected for D3 dissection in selective cases.

RESULTS

The survey yielded 16 eligible articles including 6,350 patients with EGJ carcinoma. The metastatic rates exceeded 5% at no. 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 11p, and 110 stations and were less than 5% in abdominal no. 4sa~6, 8a, 10, 11d, 12a, and 16a2/b1 and mediastinal no. 105~112 stations. Consequently, obligatory stations with EI over 2% were largely determined by the epicenter location and located at the upper perigastric, lower mediastinal, and suprapancreatic zones, corresponding to those with rates of LNM over 5%. Consistent with the LNM rates less than 5%, the optional stations with EI between 0.5% and 2% were largely dependent on the degree of tumor extension toward the lower perigastric, splenic hilar (grecurvature), para-aortic (less curvature of the cardia), and middle or upper mediastinal zones.

CONCLUSIONS

The obligatory stations can be resected as an "envelope-like" wrap by transhiatal proximal gastrectomy with lower esophagectomy, whereas the optional stations for dissection are indicated by the tumor extension. The extended gastrectomy is required for the lower perigastric in the stomach-predominant tumor with gastric involvement exceeding 5.0 cm, para-aortic dissection in the less curvature-predominant tumor and splenic hilar dissection in the grecurvature-predominant tumor whereas transthoracic subtotal esophagectomy is required for complete mediastinal dissection and adequate negative margin in the esophagus-predominant tumor with esophageal invasion exceeding 3.0 cm.

How to decide surgical procedure for esophagogastric junction cancer?

Standard surgical procedure for esophagogastric junction cancer, especially adenocarcinoma, has still remained controversial. Various procedures has been allowed and applied for Siewert type II tumors. Negative long resection margin had been regarded as essential in decision on the procedure. Recent papers have, however, shown the priority of invasion length to each side (esophagus and stomach), because it relates the frequency and sites of lymph node metastasis to be dissected. And, the size of remnant stomach is, also, important when a proximal gastrectomy is considered.

The surgical procedure for esophagogastric junction cancer — discussing the tactics

Introduction. Currently, there is no standardized surgical tactics for the esophagogastric junction cancer treatment. The issues of the resection margin, volume of lymphodissection and the optimal size of the gastric stump are still being discussed. This article analyzes the influence of these parameters on the recurrence-free survival and postoperative quality of life for patients, according to the literature data. Objective. Analysis of the treatment outcomes for patients with esophagogastric junction cancer, depending on the surgical tactics. Materials and Methods. The article analyzes the literature data evaluating various approaches in the surgical treatment of esophagogastric junction cancer. We present an example (from the Yasuyuki Seto study) of a patient with proximal gastric adenocarcinoma with a depth of T3 invasion and the surgical tactics regarding the size of the gastric stump. a A great advantage of the resection margin located at 2 cm from the proximal margin and at 5 cm from the distal margin has been shown. According to the results of our own observations, a patient with proximal gastric adenocarcinoma with an invasion depth of T3 underwent a resection with the proximal and distal resection margins of 13 and 65 mm, respectively. Negative resection margins were diagnosed intraoperatively. The patient's recurrence -free survival was 6 years. A total gastrectomy or esophagectomy are not the operations of choice because of the worsening of the patient's quality of life. When analyzing the depth of invasion according to the literature data, it has been found that an invasion in the esophagus of more than 30 mm is associated with an increased risk of metastatic lymph nodes of the superior and middle mediastinum. With a gastric invasion length of more than 40 mm, lymph nodes of lesser curvature along the right gastric artery are affected. According to the literature, a gastric stump with the size of more than two-thirds of the organ size was favorable in terms of the postoperative quality of life. Many authors indicate the positive effect of maintaining the gastroesophageal sphincter and cardia of the stomach. In the study by Yasuyuki Seto, proximal gastric resection was applied only if it was possible to maintain more than 12 cm in the small curvature and 25 cm in the large curvature. Conclusion. When choosing the surgical tactics for the esophagogastric junction cancer, one needs to focus on the patient's quality of life after the surgery. It is necessary to achieve negative resection margins in each case. The resection margins should be more than 2 and 5 cm for the proximal and distal margins, respectively. Dissection of the lymph nodes of the middle and superior mediastinum should be carried out with invasion of the tumor into the esophagus by more than 30 mm, removal of the lymph nodes of the lesser curvature of the stomach along the right gastric artery must be carried out if the tumor invasion into stomach is more than 40 mm. It is optimal to keep the gastric stump equal to two-thirds of the size of the organ. The issue of the surgical tactics in cancer of the esophageal-gastric transition is of great practical importance and requires a further study.

Tumor volume of resectable adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction at multidetector CT: association with regional lymph node metastasis and N stage

PURPOSE

To determine whether the volume of resectable adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (AEG) measured at multidetector computed tomography (CT) is associated with regional lymph node metastasis and N stage.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study was approved by the institutional ethics committee, and written informed consent was obtained from each participant. Two hundred sixteen patients with resectable AEG prospectively underwent contrast material-enhanced thoracoabdominal multidetector CT less than 2 weeks before curative resection. Gross tumor volume was retrospectively measured on CT scans. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify whether gross tumor volume is associated with regional lymph node metastasis. The Mann-Whitney U test was performed to compare gross tumor volume among N stages, with Bonferroni correction for multigroup comparisons. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to determine if gross tumor volume could help classify N stage.

RESULTS

Univariate analysis showed that gross tumor volume is associated with regional lymph node metastasis (P < .0001). Multivariate analysis revealed that gross tumor volume is an independent risk factor of lymph node metastasis (P = .023, odds ratio = 2.791). The Mann-Whitney U test showed that gross tumor volume could help differentiate between stage N0 and stages N1-N2 or N1-N3 disease and between stages N1-N2 and stage N3 disease (P < .0001 for all). In patients with stage T1-T3 AEG, gross tumor volume could help differentiate between stage N0 and stages N1-N2 (cutoff, 15.23 cm(3)) or N1-N3 (cutoff, 17.16 cm(3)) disease and between stages N1-N2 and stage N3 disease (cutoff, 33.96 cm(3)). In patients with stage T3 AEG, gross tumor volume could help differentiate stage N0 from stages N1-N2 (cutoff, 18.41 cm(3)) or N1-N3 (cutoff, 19.30 cm(3)) disease and stages N1-N2 from stage N3 disease (cutoff, 33.96 cm(3)).

CONCLUSION

Gross tumor volume of AEG measured with multidetector CT is associated with regional lymph node metastasis and N stage.