Supracarinal lymph node positivity in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and factors predicting metastasis in supracarinal compartment nodes: Should a total mediastinal node dissection be the standard of care?

Background: Adequate lymphadenectomy in middle- and lower-third esophagus cancer is still a matter of debate. This study aims to find out the extent of histopathological supracarinal lymph nodes positivity rate to establish an adequate lymph node dissection in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cases operated up-front or after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (CT) + radiotherapy (RT) and its short-term oncological outcome.

Materials And Methods: After approval from institutional board review, a retrospective study was conducted from April 2017 to September 2019.