[Retrospective study on lobe-specific lymph node dissection for patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer]

Selective Mediastinal Lymphadenectomy or Complete Mediastinal Lymphadenectomy for Clinical Stage I Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

INTRODUCTION

Selective mediastinal lymphadenectomy (SML) and complete mediastinal lymphadenectomy (CML) are two main types of surgery conducted for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) plus lobectomy or segmentectomy. It is not known whether stage I NSCLC can benefit from CML. Using the meta-analytical method, our research aimed to find out the worth of SML and CML for the therapy of clinical stage I NSCLC.

METHODS

We searched PubMed, Ovid, MEDLINE, Cochrane Controlled Trial Register (CENTRAL), Embase, and Google Scholar for literature published up to June 2021 to evaluate the comparative research and to assess the post-operative complications, overall survival rate, disease-free survival rate, and local and distant recurrence. This meta-analysis was conducted by combining the results of the reported incidences of post-operative complications, local and distant recurrence, and short- and long-term mortality. The pooled odds ratios (OR) and the 95% confidence intervals were calculated by random or fixed effects models to compare the effectiveness between these two methods.

RESULTS

Five retrospective studies and one randomized controlled trial study were included in our research. The six studies included a total of 5713 patients, of whom 1480 were assigned to the SML group and 4233 were assigned to the CML group. No statistically significant differences were found in the 1- and 5-year overall survival rates or the 1-, 3-, and 5-year disease-free survival rates between the two groups. However, the 3-year overall survival favored the SML group (P < 0.05). There were also no statistically significant differences between the local and distant metastasis. Among the postoperative complications, pneumonia, atelectasis, and prolonged air leak were more common in the CML group (P < 0.05). There were no differences in the prevalence of dysrhythmia, chylothorax, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or recurrent laryngeal nerve injury between the two groups, which may be due to the limited sample size.

CONCLUSION

Considering the comparable survival rates, disease control, and fewer postoperative complications in the evaluated participants, SML is the preferred treatment with less invasiveness for clinical stage I NSCLC.

Lobe-Specific Node Dissection Can Be a Suitable Alternative to Systematic Lymph Node Dissection in Highly Selective Early-Stage Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Patients: A Meta-Analysis

Purpose: Whether the lobe-specific lymph node dissection is an alternative to systematic lymph node dissection for early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer remains controversial. An elaborate meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the effects of lobe-specific lymph node dissection in early-stage patients.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted up to February 19, 2020 in PubMed, Ovid, Web of Science, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases. The outcomes including overall survival (OS), complications, and recurrence rate were extracted and analyzed.

Results: Nine studies including one randomized controlled trial (RCT) and eight retrospective cohort studies with 8499 non-small-cell lung cancer patients were included. The results indicated that lobe-specific lymph node had a lower rate of postoperative complication (relative risk [RR]: 0.83, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.72–0.95, P = 0.006). No significant difference was observed between lobe-specific lymph node and systematic lymph node dissection in OS (hazard rate = 1.12, 95% CI: 0.81–1.54, P = 0.501) with high heterogeneity (I² = 71.9%).

Conclusion: Lobe-specific lymph node can reach a comparable long-term prognosis in some highly selected patients. However, these results should be viewed cautiously with the existence of high heterogeneity. Due to the high heterogeneity, a strict patient selection process by experienced thoracic surgeons was recommended before validating lobe-specific lymph node.

[Advances in Lymph Node Metastasis and the Modes of Lymph Node Dissection in Early Stage Non-small Cell Lung Caner]

目前，肺癌已是全球范围内发病率及死亡率最高的恶性肿瘤，非小细胞肺癌（non-small cell lung cancer, NSCLC）约占肺癌80%。手术治疗在早期NSCLC治疗中占主导地位，而淋巴结分期及手术中清扫程度直接影响着患者术后生活质量及患者的预后。解剖性肺叶切除加系统性淋巴结清扫一直以来被认为是NSCLC的标准手术方式，但对早期NSCLC患者纵隔淋巴结清扫程度问题上一直存在较大争议，精确评估区域淋巴结的转移及淋巴结清扫的程度是影响患者围手术期并发症和预后的重要因素。对于早期肺癌行肺叶特异性或选择性淋巴结清扫已逐渐为国内外学者接受，并可能成为临床Ⅰ期NSCLC患者标准淋巴结清扫方式。