Clinical study on features of mediastinal lymph nodes metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer

Objective Correctly dealing with mediastinum lymph nodes during operation is critical to the prognosis of resectable non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC),but the removal extent of mediastinum lymph nodes is controversial.This study was to investigate the features and clinical significance of lymph nodes metastasis to mediastium in NSCLC.Methods 168 patients with pulmonary carcinoma who underwent pulmonary resection plus system dissection of same side mediastinal lymph nodes were retrospectively analyzed according to the mapping system developed by Naruke.The frequency of lymph nodes metastasis was examined pathologically.Results 1143 groups of lymph nodes were removed.There were 6.8 groups on average in each case.Metastatic rate of N2 nodes was 29.0%.There was significant difference in lymph node metastasis among T1 and T2 patients(P0.05).42.4% of N2 nodes in adenocarcinoma spread to more than 3 groups,While 33.3% in squamous carcinoma.Skip metastatic nodes accounted for 14.3% of N2 nodes.Conclusion Multiple,solitary and transregional metastases are the characteristic of lymph nodes metastasis in NSCLC.