Yu YB. Risk factors for lymph node metastasis in superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. World J Gastroenterol 2024; 30(13): 1810-1814 [PMID: 38659479 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i13.1810]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Yan-Bo Yu, MD, PhD, Professor, Doctor, Department of Gastroenterology, Laboratory of Translational Gastroenterology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, No. 107 Wenhuaxi Road, Jinan 250012, Shandong Province, China. yuyanbo2000@126.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 7, 2024; 30(13): 1810-1814 Published online Apr 7, 2024. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i13.1810
Risk factors for lymph node metastasis in superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Yan-Bo Yu
Yan-Bo Yu, Department of Gastroenterology, Laboratory of Translational Gastroenterology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, Shandong Province, China
Author contributions: Yu YB designed the overall concept and outline of the manuscript and contributed to the writing, and editing the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yan-Bo Yu, MD, PhD, Professor, Doctor, Department of Gastroenterology, Laboratory of Translational Gastroenterology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, No. 107 Wenhuaxi Road, Jinan 250012, Shandong Province, China. yuyanbo2000@126.com
Received: January 6, 2024 Peer-review started: January 6, 2024 First decision: January 16, 2024 Revised: February 1, 2024 Accepted: March 13, 2024 Article in press: March 13, 2024 Published online: April 7, 2024
Abstract
In this editorial, we comment on the article by Wang et al published in the recent issue of the World Journal of Gastroenterology in 2023. We focused on identifying risk factors for lymph node metastasis (LNM) in superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SESCC) patients and how to construct a simple and reliable clinical prediction model to assess the risk of LNM in SESCC patients, thereby helping to guide the selection of an appropriate treatment plan. The current standard treatment for SESCC is radical esophagectomy with lymph node dissection. However, esophagectomy is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. Endoscopic resection (ER) offers a safer and less invasive alternative to surgical resection and can enable the patient's quality of life to be maintained while providing a satisfactory outcome. However, since ER is a localized treatment that does not allow for lymph node dissection, the risk of LNM in SESCC limits the effectiveness of ER. Understanding LNM status can aid in determining whether patients with SESCC can be cured by ER without the need for additional esophagectomy. Previous studies have shown that tumor size, macroscopic type of tumor, degree of differentiation, depth of tumor invasion, and lymphovascular invasion are factors associated with LNM in patients with SESCC. In addition, tumor budding is commonly associated with LNM, recurrence, and distant metastasis, but this topic has been less covered in previous studies. By comprehensively evaluating the above risk factors for LNM, useful evidence can be obtained for doctors to select appropriate treatments for SESCC patients.
Core Tip: Endoscopic resection is a routine treatment for superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, but the risk of lymph node metastasis (LNM) limits its application to some extent. Tumor size, invasion depth, tumor differentiation, tumor infiltrative growth pattern, tumor budding, and lymphovascular invasion were shown to be significantly correlated with LNM.
