• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.4719-4722
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• 2015

Background: This study aimed to determine the utility and a cut-off level of serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag) to predict lymph node metastasis in locally advanced cervical cancer cases. We also investigated the correlation between SCC-Ag level and lymph node status. Materials and Methods: From June 2009 to June 2014, 232 patients with cervical cancer stage IB2-IVA, who were treated at Ramathibodi Hospital, were recruited. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to identify the best cut-off point of SCC-Ag level to predict lymph node metastasis. Quantile regression was performed to evaluate the correlation between SCC-Ag levels and pelvic lymph node metastasis, paraaortic lymph node metastasis, and parametrial involvement as well as tumor size. Results: Pelvic lymph node metastasis and paraaortic lymph node metastasis were diagnosed in 46.6% and 20.1% of the patients, respectively. The median SCC-Ag level was 6 ng/mL (range, 0.5 to 464.6 ng/mL). The areas under ROC curves between SCC-Ag level and pelvic lymph node metastasis, paraaotic lymph node metastasis, parametrial involvements were low. SCC-Ag level was significantly correlated with paraaortic lymph node status (p=0.045) but not with pelvic lymph node status and parametrial involvement. SCC-Ag level was also related to the tumor diameter (p<0.05). Conclusions: SCC-Ag level is not a good predictor for pelvic and paraaortic lymph node metastasis. However, it is still beneficial to assess the tumor burden of squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.183-186
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• 2010

Purpose : Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is known for malignant tumor which has a favorable prognosis and long-term survival. Although the prognosis for patients with PTC is generally good, PTC tends to have highly metastatic property. The purpose of this study was to analyze the central compartment lymph node in papillary thyroid cancer with no lymph node metastasis clinically and to assess the significance of prophylactic node dissection. Methods : A retrospective review was carried out in 394 patients with PTC who underwent surgery for the period from January 2004 to December 2006. The positive rate of the lymph node metastasis was analyzed. The relations between the central compartment lymph nodes and the patients' age, gender, tumor size, exrathyroidal extension(ETE), multifocality, and bilaterality were comparatively analyzed in PTC patients with preoperative no lymph node metastasis. Results : The enrolled patients were 40 male and 354 female cases. The 118 cases of them were found to have cervical lymph node metastasis. The mean age was 46 years(range, 15-77years). Tumor size(p=0.000), ETE(p=0.001), multifocality(p=0.014), and bilaterality(p=0.001) were significantly related factors for cervical lymph node metastasis clinically in papillary thyroid cancer. However, age and gender were not significantly related with lymph node metastasis. Conclusion : Although no lymph node metastasis clinically, prophylactic neck node dissection can be performed to avoid risks of local recurrence and reoperation in the light of PTC nature. The pathological status and high positive rate of central compartment lymph node relate to tumor size and extrathyroidal extension. Close surveillance for nodal status is required in follow-up.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.13
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• pp.5371-5375
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• 2014

Background: An accurate assessment of potential lymph node metastasis is important for the appropriate treatment of early gastric cancers. Therefore, this study analyzed predictive factors associated with lymph node metastasis and identified differences between mucosal and submucosal gastric cancers. Materials and Methods: A total of 518 early gastric cancer patients who underwent radical gastrectomy were reviewed in this study. Clinicopathological features were analyzed to identify predictive factors for lymph node metastasis. Results: The rate of lymph node metastasis in early gastric cancer was 15.3% overall, 3.3% for mucosal cancer, and 23.5% for submucosal cancer. Using univariate analysis, risk factors for lymph node metastasis were identified as tumor location, tumor size, depth of tumor invasion, histological type and lymphovascular invasion. Multivariate analysis revealed that tumor size >2 cm, submucosal invasion, undifferentiated tumors and lymphovascular invasion were independent risk factors for lymph node metastasis. When the carcinomas were confined to the mucosal layer, tumor size showed a significant correlation with lymph node metastasis. On the other hand, histological type and lymphovascular invasion were associated with lymph node metastasis in submucosal carcinomas. Conclusions: Tumor size >2 cm, submucosal tumor, undifferentiated tumor and lymphovascular invasion are predictive factors for lymph node metastasis in early gastric cancer. Risk factors are quite different depending on depth of tumor invasion. Endoscopic treatment might be possible in highly selective cases.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.199-203
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• 2007

Several matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been shown to play an important role in the invasion and metastasis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The members of the TGF-$\beta$ signaling pathway are being considered as predictive biomarkers for progressive tumorigenesis and molecular targets for the prevention and the treatment of cancer and metastasis. The aim of the present study was to find the clinical significance of the expression of TGF-${\beta}1$ and MMP-2 related to the regional lymph node metastasis in OSCC. This study included 76 cases of primary OSCC, of which 42 cases showed regional lymph node metastases. Immunohistochemistry was used for the localization of protein. The relation between the expression of each protein and clinical variables was statistically evaluated. In results, the expression of TGF-${\beta}1$ both main mass with lymph node metastasis and without lymph node metastasis was found not to be statistically significant (p>0.05). The expression of MMP-2 was found to be statistically significant related to regional lymph node metastasis (p<0.05). When compared the expression in the metastatic lymph node, TGF-${\beta}1$ was significantly highly expressed than MMP-2 (p<0.05). In conclusion, the expression of MMP-2 was significantly elevated in patients with lymph node metastasis as compared to the patients without lymph node metastasis, which could be useful in predicting the risk of lymph node metastasis in OSCC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7719-7724
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• 2014

Background: Lymph node metastasis is believed to be a dependent negative prognostic factor of esophageal cancer. To explore detection methods with high sensitivity and accuracy for metastases to regional and distant lymph nodes in the clinic is of great significance. This study focused on clinical application of FDG PET/CT and contrast-enhanced multiple-slice helical computed tomography (MSCT) in lymph node staging of esophageal cancer. Materials and Methods: One hundred and fifteen cases were examined with enhanced 64-slice-MSCT scan, and FDG PET/CT imaging was conducted for neck, chest and upper abdomen within one week. The primary lesion, location and numbers of metastatic lymph nodes were observed. Surgery was performed within one week after FDG PET/CT detection. All resected lesions were confirmed histopathologically as the gold standard. Comparative analysis of the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy based on FDG PET/CT and MSCT was conducted. Results: There were 946 lymph node groups resected during surgery from 115 patients, and 221 were confirmed to have metastasis pathologically. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy of FDG PET/CT in detecting lymph node metastasis were 74.7%, 97.2% and 92.0%, while with MSCT they were 64.7%, 96.4%, and 89.0%, respectively. A significance difference was observed in sensitivity (p=0.030), but not the others (p>0.05). The accuracy of FDG PET/CT in detecting regional lymph node with or without metastasis were 91.9%, as compared to 89.4% for MSCT, while FDG PET/CT and MSCT values for detecting distant lymph node with or without metastasis were 94.4% and 94.7%. No significant difference was observed for either regional or distant lymph node metastasis. Additionally, for detecting para-esophageal lymph nodes metastasis, the sensitivity of FDG PET/CT was 72%, compared with 54.7% for MSCT (p=0.029). Conclusions: FDG PET/CT is more sensitive than MSCT in detecting lymph node metastasis, especially for para-esophageal lymph nodes in esophageal cancer cases, although no significant difference was observed between FDG PET/CT and MSCT in detecting both regional and distant lymph node metastasis. However, enhanced MSCT was found to be of great value in distinguishing false negative metastatic lymph nodes from FDG PET/CT. The combination of FDG PET/CT with MSCT should improve the accuracy in lymph node metastasis staging of esophageal cancer.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.215-219
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• 2014

Distant metastasis from papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), particularly from papillary thyroid microcarcinoma, is rare. We present a case of perigastric lymph node metastasis from PTC in a patient with early gastric cancer and breast cancer. During post-surgical follow-up for breast cancer, a 56-year-old woman was diagnosed incidentally with early gastric cancer and synchronous left thyroid cancer. Therefore, laparoscopic distal gastrectomy with lymph node dissection and left thyroidectomy were performed. On the basis of the pathologic findings of the surgical specimens, the patient was diagnosed to have papillary thyroid microcarcinoma with perigastric lymph node metastasis and early gastric cancer with mucosal invasion. Finally, on the basis of immunohistochemical staining with galectin-3, the diagnosis of perigastric lymph node metastasis from PTC was made. When a patient has multiple primary malignancies with lymph node metastasis, careful pathologic examination of the surgical specimen is necessary; immunohistochemical staining may be helpful in determining the primary origin of lymph node metastasis.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.81-89
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• 1990

A total of 178 patients with primary lung cancer who had undergone complete resection of the tumor in combination with complete mediastinal lymphadenectomy were reviewed at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery of Yonsei Medical Center from January 1980 through July 1989. Materials; 1. There were 45 men and 33 women ranging of age from 25 to 78 years with a mean age of 55.4 years. 2. Histological types were squamous carcinoma in 115 cases [64.6%] adenocarcinoma in 42 cases [23.6 %], bronchioloalveolar carcinoma in 9 cases [5.1%], large cell carcinoma in 8 cases [4.5 %] and small cell carcinoma in 4 cases [2.2%] Results were summarized as follows: 1. The size of primary tumor was not directly proportional to the frequency of mediastinal lymph node metastasis. [P =0.0567] 2. The histologic types of the primary tumor did not related to the incidence of mediastinal lymph node metastasis. [P >0.19] 3. The chance of mediastinal lymph node metastasis in the case with lung cancer located in right middle lobe[31.8%, N=22] and left lower lobe [31.4%, N=32] were the highest and the lowest was the one located in right lower lobe, while over all incidence of mediastinal lymph node metastasis in this series was 25.4 % [N=55]. 4. The rate of mediastinal lymph node metastasis without evidence of regional and hilar lymph node metastasis was 13%. [N=23] The chance of mediastinal lymph node involvement without N1 lymph node metastasis was 16.3 % [N=17] in both upper lobes and 8.2 % [N=6] in both lower lobes. It was statistically significant that the tumors in the upper lobes had greater chance of the mediastinal lymph node metastasis without N1 than the tumors in the lower lobes. 5. In this series majority of the patients with lung cancer the mediastinal lymph node metastasis from the tumor in each pulmonary lobes usually occurs via ipsilateral tracheobronchial and paratracheal lymphatic pathway. Especially the lung cancer located in lower lobes can metastasize to subcarinal, paraesophageal and inferior pulmonary ligamental lymph node through the lymphatic pathway of inferior pulmonary ligament. It can be speculated that in some cases of this series otherwise mediastinal lymph node metastasis can also occur with direct invasion to the parietal pleura and to the mediastinal lymph node via direct subpleural lymphatic pathway .

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.119-123
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• 2001

Purpose: The prognosis of operated early gastric cancer is quite excellent and the 5-year survival rate shows to be over $90\%$. The less extensive treatment has been considered to be attractive. However, lymph node metastasis remains a main risk factor for recurrence of early gastric cancer. The author performed this study in order to determine which clinicopathologic factors of early gastric cancer influence lymph node metastasis and recurrence. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 222 patients with early gastric cancer who had been treated by gastrectomy combined with D2 or more extended lymph node dissection between January 1991 and December 1997 at the Department of Surgery, Kyunghee University Hospital. Results: Lymph node metastasis was observed in 26 patients ($11.7\%$), and the depth of tumor invasion and tumor size among clinicopathologic factors affected lymph node metastasis. The 5-year recurrence rate was $4.4\%$, and it was revealed that lymph node metastasis and depth of tumor invasion had a greater effect on recurrence than other clinicopathologic factors. Conclusion: The high risk factors of early gastric cancer in recurrence were submucosal tumor invasion, tumor size more than 2 cm, and lymph node metastasis. Patients of early gastric cancer with such high risk factors should undergo radical gastric resection than limited surgery. (J Korean Gastric Cancer Assoc 2001;1:119-123)

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.3-8
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• 2010

Background : Though papillary microcarcinoma(PMC) of thyroid gland is known to have very favorable long-term prognosis, the recurrence in the neck and distant metastasis have been often reported. The predictive factors of node metastasis and tumor recurrence in clinical course were investigated to define surgical decision or guidelines in surgery of papillary microcarcinoma. Methods : The authors conducted a retrospective analysis of 216 patients of PMC treated with surgery at Department of Surgery, Busan Paik Hospital for the period from 1997 to 2007. Of these patients, 58 cases showing cervical lymph node metastasis at initial surgery were studied. Results : In overall 216 patients, the sex ratio of male to female was 1 : 9.3(male 21, female 195 cases), the mean age at the time of diagnosis was 44.7 years and the median tumor size was 6.61mm. Neck lymph node metastasis was found in 58 patients(26.9%), thyroid capsular invasion was 56 cases(25.9%), multifocality and bilaterality were found in 32(14.8%) and 29 cases(13.4%), respectively. Through statistical analysis, sex, capsular invasion, ETE, and tumor size(>5mm) were considered to be predictive factors of cervical lymph nodes metastasis. Of them, capsular invasion was the most predictive indicator of cervical lymph node metastasis on multivariate analysis. Nodal recurrence was observed in 6 of 58 patients of node positive at initial surgery. Conclusion : The cervical lymph node metastasis is known to be a risk factor of prognosis in PMC of thyroid gland. The results of this study showed four statistically significant independent predictive factors of cervical lymph node metastasis in PMC : capsular invasion, tumor size(>5mm), ETE, and sex. On multivariate analysis, capsular invasion was a great influencing factor in prediction of lymph node metastasis. Basically, patients who has predictive factors of cervical lymph node metastasis should have a thorough investigation, and close surveillance for nodal status is required in follow-up.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.133-138
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• 2016

Objectives: To assess the association between muscle invasion by oral squamous cell carcinoma of the posterior mandibular alveolar ridge and cervical lymph node metastasis on the basis of preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Materials and Methods: Twenty-six patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma of the posterior mandibular alveolar ridge were evaluated by MRI. The associations between cervical lymph node metastasis and independent factors evaluated by MRI were analyzed. Overall survival was also analyzed in this manner. Representative biopsy specimens were stained with anti-podoplanin and anti-CD34 antibodies. Results: Mylohyoid muscle invasion was associated with cervical lymph node metastasis. A combinational factor of mylohyoid and/or buccinator muscle invasion was also associated with cervical lymph node metastasis. Cervical lymph node metastasis and masticator space invasion had a negative effect on overall survival. No lymphatic vessels were identified near the tumor invasion front within the mandible. In contrast, lymphatic vessels were identified near the front of tumor invasion in the muscles. Conclusion: This study demonstrates an association between muscular invasion by oral squamous cell carcinoma of the posterior mandibular alveolar ridge and cervical lymph node metastasis.