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Background: Despite notable advances made in preoperative staging, unexpected nodal metastases after surgery are still significantly detected. In this study we aim to analyze the upstaging rate in patients with clinical stage I NSCLC without evidence of nodal disease in the preoperative staging who underwent lobectomy and radical lymphadenectomy. Methods: Patients who underwent lobectomy and systematic lymphadenectomy for clinical stage INSCLCwere evaluated. Exclusion criteria included the neoadjuvant treatment, incomplete resection and no adherence to preoperative guidelines. Results: A total of 297 patients were included in the study. 159 patients were female, and the median age was 68 (61 - 73). The variables that showed a significant correlation with the upstaging rate at the univariate analysis were the number of resected lymph nodes and micropapillar/solid adenocar-cinoma subtype. This result was confirmed in the multivariate analysis with a OR= 2.545 (95%CI 1.136-5.701; p=0.02) for the number of resected lymph nodes and a OR=2.717 (95%CI 1.256-5.875; p=0.01) for the high-grade pattern of adenocarcinoma. Conclusion: Our results showed that in a homogeneous cohort of patients with clinical stage I NSCLC, the number of resected lymph nodes and the histological subtype of adenocarcinoma can significantly be associated with nodal metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though the use of the "fissure-last" technique in mini-invasive lobectomy with the fissureless condition is well accepted, in terms of perioperative outcomes, controversies still surround the hilar lymph node dissection. In this article, we reported a description of the robotic "tunnel technique" approach in the right upper lobectomy in the absence of a defined fissure. We then compared the short terms outcomes of 30 consecutive cases treated using this technique, with 30 patients treated using the "fissure last" VATS approach in the same institution, before the start of the robotic surgery program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Incidence of lung carcinoids is rapidly increasing, but the correct management of these patients is still debated. Although their clinical behaviour differs from Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, the same staging system is used for these tumors, even if it presents limitations in prognosis prediction and overlapping curves especially regarding sub-stages. For these reasons, in recent years, ad hoc scores have been constructed aiming to better stratify prognosis and indicate appropriate treatment options. In particular, a score including the node ration as nodal factor was proposed, although external validation was not possible. The aim of this study is to validate this score, for the possibility of identifying a specific class of patients that may benefit from specific follow-up schedules or post-operative treatments. Background: A prognostic score including T-dimension, age, histology and lymph node ratio was previously proposed in absence of an external validation dataset. The aim of the current study was to validate the proposed prognostic score using an independent dataset. Methods: Data of patients with lung carcinoids, who underwent surgical resection and lymphadenectomy in five institutions from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2019, were retrospectively analyzed. Two risk groups were created based on the following data: age, histology, node ratio and pT for disease-free survival (DFS); age, sex, node ratio and pT for overall survival (OS). The previously proposed score was validated, identifying two groups of patients: a high risk (HRG) and low risk (LRG) group. Results: The final analysis was conducted on 283 patients. Regarding DFS, 230 (81.3%) patients were assigned to the LRG and 53 (18.7%) to the HRG. Considering OS, 268 (94.7%) were allocated in the LRG and 15 (5.3%) in the HRG. The 5-year DFS was 92.7% in the LRG vs. 67% in the HRG (p < 0.001) while the 5-year OS was 93.6% in the LRG vs. 86.2% in the HRG (p = 0.29) with clear curve separation. Conclusion: Our analysis confirmed the validity of the composite score for DFS in lung carcinoids. Regarding OS, statistical significance was not reached because of a low number of deaths and patients in the HRG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While the thoracotomy approach was considered the gold standard until two decades ago, robotic surgery has increasingly strengthened its role in lung cancer treatment, improving patients' peri-operative outcomes. In this study, we report our experience in robotic lobectomy for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer, with particular attention to oncological outcomes and nodal upstaging rate. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent lobectomy and radical lymphadenectomy at our Institute between 2016 and 2020. We selected 299 patients who met the inclusion criteria of the study. We analyzed the demographic features of the groups as well as their nodal upstaging rate after pathological examination. Then, we analyzed disease-free and overall survival of the entire enrolled patient population and we compared the same oncological outcomes in the upstaging and the non-upstaging group. Results: A total of 299 patients who underwent robotic lobectomy were enrolled. After surgery, 55 patients reported nodal hilar or mediastinal upstaging. The 3-year overall survival of the entire population was 82.8%. The upstaging group and the non-upstaging group were homogeneous for age, gender, smoking habits, clinical stage, tumor site, tumor histology. The non-upstaging group had better OS (p = 0.004) and DFS (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Our results show that robotic surgery is a safe and feasible approach for the treatment of early-stage NSCLC, especially for its accuracy in mediastinal lymphadenectomy. The oncological outcomes were encouraging and consistent with previous findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

View large Download slide View large Download slide OBJECTIVES The prognostic role of the number of resected and metastatic lymph nodes in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is still being debated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of lymphadenectomy in addition to the already validated variables in NSCLC survival. METHODS From January 2002 to December 2012, data on 4858 patients with NSCLC undergoing anatomical lung resection and hilomediastinal lymphadenectomy in 6 institutions were analysed retrospectively. Established prognostic factors in addition to the number of resected lymph nodes and the ratio between the number of metastatic lymph nodes and the number of resected lymph nodes (NR) were correlated to overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) using the multivariable Cox regression model. Harrell's C-statistic with the 95% confidence interval (CI) was determined. Analysis by means of maximally selected log-rank statistics was performed to find optimal cut-off points in order to split patients into groups with different outcome probabilities. RESULTS The median numbers of resected lymph nodes and of metastatic lymph nodes were 17 (range 6–85) and 2 (1–36), respectively. Hilar (N1) and mediastinal (N2) metastases were identified in 21.3% and 20.0% of cases, respectively. Overall, the 5-year OS and DFS rates were 54.6% and 44.8%, respectively. At multivariable analysis, age, gender, pathological stage, R0 resection, type of surgery and NR correlated with longer OS rates; the same variables plus tumour grading were further related to DFS. C-statistics were 66.0 (95% CI 62.7–69.4) for DFS and 60.5 (95% CI 58.3–62.6) for OS. An NR <40% significantly correlated with a higher 5-year survival rate in the total sample (OS 57.6% vs 23.8%, P  < 0.001; DFS 48.2% vs 11.4, P  < 0.001) and in patients with N1 (OS 47.9% vs 36.1%, P  = 0.03; DFS 39% vs 24.2%, P  = 0.02) and N2 (OS 36.9% vs 21.8%, P  < 0.001 DFS 23.9% vs 9.1%, P  < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Our study confirms that the number of resected lymph nodes is a strong prognostic indicator in NSCLC. In particular, an NR cut-off value of 40% may predict both OS and DFS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of 55-year-old white female with recurrent malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). Topics discussed include observation of lesion through 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography scans; adoption of lymph node dissection approaches with left transmanubrial conditions; and observation of variation in recurrence rates for MPM.

Despite notable advances made in preoperative staging, unexpected nodal metastases after surgery are still significantly detected. Given the promising role of neoadjuvant targeted treatments, the definition of novel predictive factors of nodal metastases is an extremely important issue. In this study we aim to analyze the upstaging rate in patients with early stage NSCLC without evidence of nodal disease in the preoperative staging who underwent lobectomy and radical lymphadenectomy. Patients who underwent lobectomy and systematic lymphadenectomy for early stage LUAD without evidence of nodal disease at the preoperative staging using NGS analysis for actionable molecular targets evaluation after surgery were evaluated. Exclusion criteria included the neoadjuvant treatment, incomplete resection and no adherence to preoperative guidelines. A total of 359 patients were included in the study. 172 patients were female, and the median age was 68 (61–72). The variables that showed a significant correlation with the upstaging rate at the univariate analysis were the ALK rearrangement, the number of resected lymph nodes and the diameter of the tumor. This result was confirmed in the multivariate analysis, with an OR of 8.052 (CI95% 3.123–20.763, p = 0.00001) for ALK rearrangement, 1.087 (CI95% 1.048–1.127, p = 0.00001) for the number of resected nodes and 1.817 (CI95% 1.214–2.719, p = 0.004) for cT status. Our results showed that in a homogeneous cohort of patients with clinical node early stage LUAD the ALK rearrangement, the number of resected lymph nodes and the tumor diameter can significantly predict nodal metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]