| Theme |
Clinical Application of Sentinel Node Concept for Carcinoma of the Alimentary Tract |
| Title |
Sentinel Node Navigation for Esophageal Cancer |
| Author |
Hiroya Takeuchi |
Department of Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine |
| Author |
Yuko Kitagawa |
Department of Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine |
| Author |
Yoshiro Saikawa |
Department of Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine |
| Author |
Makio Mukai |
Department of Pathology, Keio University School of Medicine |
| Author |
Tadaki Nakahara |
Department of Radiology, Keio University School of Medicine |
| Author |
Atsushi Kubo |
Department of Radiology, Keio University School of Medicine |
| Author |
Masaki Kitajima |
Department of Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine |
| [ Summary ] |
Recently, we have established a radio guided method to detect sentinel nodes (SNs) in esophageal cancer. In esophageal cancer, there are multiple SNs and they are widely spread from the cervical to the abdominal areas. In more than 80 % of the cases, at least one SN is located in the 2 nd or 3 rd compartment of the regional lymphnodes which have been considered to be "skip metastases". This characteristic distribution of SNs is attributed to the multi-directional lymphatic drainage routes from the esophagus. Clinical application of sentinel node navigation surgery is expected to play a key role in multimodal therapy for patients with early esophageal cancer. |