Ewha Med J.  2022 Jan;45(1):3-10. 10.12771/emj.2022.45.1.3.

Clinical Implication of Lateral Pelvic Lymph Node Metastasis in Rectal Cancer Treated with Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Local recurrence was reduced considerably due to the introduction of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy as treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer. However, certain proportions of patients would experience local recurrence inevitably; the lateral pelvic lymph node is the primary site of rectal cancer recurrence even after administering neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. It remains unknown whether lateral pelvic lymph node metastasis is considered as a locoregional disease or a distant metastasis. Although the oncologic stance of lateral pelvic lymph node metastasis is controversial, there is increasing research interest in evaluating the conditional benefit of lateral pelvic lymph node dissection in a subgroup of patients. Researchers reported an improvement in local control in patients with clinically suspected lateral pelvic lymph node metastasis before/or after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy who underwent lateral pelvic lymph node dissection. However, there is no clear consensus regarding the indication, diagnostic method, and extent of lateral pelvic lymph node dissection.

Keyword

Rectal neoplasms; Neoadjuvant therapy; Lateral pelvic lymph node; Lateral pelvic lymph node dissection

Figure

  • Fig. 1 Lateral pelvic space in which the lateral pelvic lymph node mainly drains from the lower rectum. It is surrounded by the external iliac vessels and pelvic floor muscle and ureter. EIV, external iliac vein.

  • Fig. 2 Diagnostic imaging shows lateral pelvic lymph node enlargement (yellow arrows). (A) Abdominopelvic CT, MRI, and PET showed enlargement of the left internal iliac lymph node. Result shows that the lateral pelvic lymph node is pathologically “negative” for malignancy. (B) Lateral pelvic lymph node consistently enlarges after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) and is confirmed as a metastatic lymph node. (C) Left lateral obturator node shrinks after nCRT and it is histologically diagnosed as a non-metastatic lymph node after dissection. Written informed consent was obtained for publication.


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