T Matsubara, M Ueda, S Kaisaki, J Kuroda, C Uchida, N Kokudo, T Takahashi, T Nakajima, A Yanagisawa
BACKGROUND: Most surgeons consider esophageal carcinoma with lymph node involvement a systemic disease. However, it is possible that the disease may be localized in the earlier phases of lymphatic metastasis. The distribution of involved lesions in the initial phase of lymph node metastasis has not been thoroughly investigated yet. METHODS: Among 329 patients that underwent curative (R0 International Union Against Cancer [UICC]) esophagectomy with systematic mesoesophageal dissection, 51 cases of patients with only 1 involved lymph node (solitary involvement) were retrospectively investigated and compared with patients with multiple involved lymph nodes...
November 1, 2000: Cancer