Analysis of lymph node metastasis of thoracic esophageal cancer

Objective To study the pattern and feature of lymph node metastasis in thoracic esophageal carcinoma.Methods The clinical materials of 161 patients having undergone radical resection on the carcinoma of thoracic esophagus were retrospectively analyzed.Results The rate of lymph node metastasis is 61.50%.The direction of metastasis is :carcinoma of superior thoracic esophagus was mainly regional and cervical lymph node;intermediate thoracic esophageal carcinoma was regional and two ways;carcinoma of lower thoracic esophagus was mainly abdominal lymph node and mediastinal lymph node,some with leaping-over metastasis.The factors influencing lymph node metastasis were depth of tumor invasion and the degree of cell differentiation and style of pathology.Conclusion Lymph node metastasis relates to depth of tumor invasion and position of tumor and differentiation of cells.Every segmental esophageal carcinoma has its own opposite direction of lymph node metastasis.Some cases show leaping-over metastasis.The rate of lymph node metastasis is higher in small cell carcinoma than in esophageal squamous carcinoma.