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World J Gastrointest Oncol. Oct 15, 2021; 13(10): 1412-1424
Published online Oct 15, 2021. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v13.i10.1412
Lateral pelvic lymph nodes for rectal cancer: A review of diagnosis and management
Shimpei Ogawa, Michio Itabashi, Yuji Inoue, Takeshi Ohki, Yoshiko Bamba, Kurodo Koshino, Ryosuke Nakagawa, Kimitaka Tani, Hisako Aihara, Hiroka Kondo, Shigeki Yamaguchi, Masakazu Yamamoto
Shimpei Ogawa, Michio Itabashi, Yuji Inoue, Takeshi Ohki, Yoshiko Bamba, Kurodo Koshino, Ryosuke Nakagawa, Kimitaka Tani, Hisako Aihara, Hiroka Kondo, Shigeki Yamaguchi, Masakazu Yamamoto, Department of Surgery, Institute of Gastroenterology, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan
Author contributions: Ogawa S, Itabashi M, Inoue Y, Ohki T, Bamba Y, Koshino K, Nakagawa R, Tani K, Aihara H, Kondo H, Yamaguchi S and Yamamoto M conceptualized and designed the study; Ogawa S performed the data analysis and interpretation; Ogawa S and Itabashi M revised the manuscript for important intellectual content; Ogawa S, Itabashi M and Yamamoto M provided the final approval for the manuscript to be published.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
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: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Shimpei Ogawa, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Institute of Gastroenterology, Tokyo Women's Medical University, 8-1, Kawada-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan. ogawa.shimpei@twmu.ac.jp
Received: February 21, 2021
Peer-review started: February 21, 2021
First decision: May 8, 2021
Revised: May 21, 2021
Accepted: August 24, 2021
Article in press: August 24, 2021
Published online: October 15, 2021
Processing time: 233 Days and 23 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Diagnosis of lateral pelvic lymph node (LPLN) metastasis of rectal cancer is mainly made using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). LPLN-positive status on MRI is a strong risk factor for metastasis, and evaluation by MRI is important for deciding treatment strategy. LPLN dissection (LPLD) reduces recurrence in the lateral pelvis but also has complications and may not be appropriate for cases predicted to not have LPLN metastasis. Preoperative radiation therapy (RT) or chemoradiation therapy (CRT) can improve the treatment outcome. Thus, RT and CRT plus selective LPLD may produce favorable treatment outcomes.