Progress of clinical pathological features and surgical approaches of lymph node metastasis for T1 esophageal cancer

Abstract

The lymph node metastasis rate of stage T1 esophageal cancer is low and the prognosis is good. Its five-year survival rate can reach more than 90%. With the improvement of current examination methods and patients' medical consciousness, the detection rate of esophageal cancer in stage T1 (early stage) is getting higher and higher, and the studies on stage T1 esophageal cancer are gradually increasing and deepening. Due to the standardization of surgical methods in recent years, three field lymph node dissection has increased significantly compared with the past, and the detection rate of lymph node metastasis in stage T1 esophageal cancer has also increased. The depth of tumor infiltration, differentiation degree, tumor location and pathological morphology are important risk factors for lymph node metastasis of stage T1 esophageal carcinoma. Endoscopic resection is preferred for mucosal layer tumors. Radical resection is still adopted for tumors that break through to the submucosal layer. Thoracoscopic and laparoscopic esophagectomy are also increasingly used in stage T1 esophageal cancer. This article reviews the clinical pathological feature of lymph node metastasis for T1 esophageal carcinoma and surgical approaches. In order to assess the risk of lymph node metastasis for T1 esophageal cancer, and provide theoretical basis for the best surgical options. Key words: T1 Stage; Esophageal cancer; Lymph node metastasis