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Lymph Node Dissection for Carcinoma of the Esophagus

  • Chapter
Difficult Decisions in Thoracic Surgery

Abstract

The controversy surrounding the surgical treatment of esophageal cancer focuses, almost exclusively, on the extent of lymph node dissection required during esophagectomy. The majority view holds that an extended or a radical lymph node dissection will not improve overall or disease-free survival because the disease is systemic at the time of diagnosis and that long-term outcomes are largely determined by the biological behavior of the tumor; an issue that cannot be influenced by the extent of surgical dissection. Advocates of this view embrace the conventional techniques of esophageal resection where the esophagus is extracted from its mediastinal bed along with the adjacent periesophageal and lesser curvature nodes. This extent of lymph node excision is easily achieved by either a transhiatal or a transthoracic approach and thus, the terms transhiatal or transthoracic are descriptive only of the means of surgical access rather than the extent of lymph node dissection which is, for all intents and purposes, similar in extent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Weill-Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY, USA

    Nasser K. Altorki MD

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  1. Nasser K. Altorki MD
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Mark K. Ferguson MD (Professor and Head) (Professor and Head)

  2. Thoracic Surgery Service, The University of Chicago Hospitals, Chicago, IL, USA

    Mark K. Ferguson MD (Professor and Head) (Professor and Head)

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© 2007 Springer-Verlag London Limited

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Altorki, N.K. (2007). Lymph Node Dissection for Carcinoma of the Esophagus. In: Ferguson, M.K. (eds) Difficult Decisions in Thoracic Surgery. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84628-474-8_27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84628-474-8_27

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-84628-384-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-84628-474-8

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