Prognostic significance of simultaneous presence of histological and immunohistochemical metastasis to lymph nodes in patients with esophageal cancer.

PURPOSE Presence of simultaneous pathological and immunohistochemical nodal metastasis (pNM and iNM, respectively) and/or other clinical factors may be reliable prognostic predictors of survival in esophageal cancer patients who have undergone multidisciplinary treatment. METHODS Univariate and multivariate analysis of the data collected from 77 patients who had undergone R0 esophagectomy was performed to determine the significance of presence of iNM or pNM, presence of simultaneous pNM, and other clinical factors as prognostic indicators in patients who had (n = 40) and had not (n = 37) undergone preoperative treatment. RESULTS Presence of pNM was found to be a significant prognostic predictor in patients who had undergone preoperative treatment, presence of iNM in patients who had not undergone preoperative treatment, and presence of simultaneous pNM and iNM in both patient groups. Multivariate analysis indicated that the sole prognostic predictor for patients who had undergone preoperative treatment was presence of simultaneous pNM and iNM while that of patients who had not undergone preoperative treatment was clinical T category. CONCLUSION Assessment of simultaneous presence of pNM and iNM may facilitate highly accurate prediction of survival in esophageal cancer patients undergoing R0 esophagectomy, regardless of whether they have undergone preoperative treatment.