Editorial Comment on “Survival Impact of Total Resected Lymph Nodes in Esophageal Cancer Patients with and without Neoadjuvant Chemoradiation”

Excerpt

Currently, there is no consensus as to the extent of lymphadenectomy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) post neoadjuvant therapy that would best impact survival. The extent of lymphadenectomy for primary esophagectomy has been addressed by multiple studies. One such study by Peyre and colleagues used an international database of over 2000 patients with either adenocarcinoma or SCC who underwent primary esophagectomy.1 They found overall survival, and survival by tumor stage, was significantly improved in patients who had sampling of at least 23 lymph nodes. In this study, the presence of nodal metastases was an independent predictor of poor survival. A randomized trial by Omloo and colleagues found that extensive lymphadenectomy did not benefit all patients. This trial found that those with more than eight positive lymph nodes had no survival benefit regardless of the extent of lymph node dissection.2 …