How the lymph node metastases toward cervico-upper mediastinal region affect the outcome of patients with carcinoma of the thoracic esophagus.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to establish whether the site of lymph node metastasis influences the survival of patients with carcinoma of the thoracic esophagus. METHODS A series of 159 patients with lymph node metastasis who underwent right transthoracic R0 esophagectomy was analyzed retrospectively. Sites of the nodal metastasis were divided into two regions; the neck and/or upper mediastinum above (upward metastasis) and the abdomen and/or lower mediastinum below (downward metastasis) the tracheal carina. RESULTS Univariate analysis of prognostic factors revealed the tumor location, distant lymphatic metastasis, number of metastatic nodes and upward metastasis influenced survival, but downward metastasis did not. Multivariate analysis showed that the number of metastatic nodes and upward metastasis were also significant prognostic factors. Thirty-one (33.3%) of the 93 patients with, but only 6 (9.1%) without, upward metastasis had recurrences in the neck and/or upper mediastinum (P = 0.0002). Eighteen (60.0%) of the 30 patients with extranodal invasion in the neck and/or upper mediastinum had recurrence in these regions. CONCLUSIONS Nodal metastasis in the neck and/or upper mediastinum was a significant risk factor for prognosis, the same as the number of metastatic nodes.