Extended Surgical Staging for Potentially Resectable Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
Monday, November 28th, 2005.
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 2005 Dec;80(6):1988-1993. [Link]
Rice DC, Erasmus JJ, Stevens CW, Vaporciyan AA, Wu JS, Tsao AS, Walsh GL, Swisher SG, Hofstetter WL, Ordonez NG, Smythe WR.
Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
Abstract
Background: Extrapleural pneumonectomy for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a high-risk procedure, and patients require careful preoperative staging to exclude advanced disease. Computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and positron emission tomography are useful staging modalities, but do not reliably identify contralateral mediastinal involvement or transdiaphragmatic invasion. We evaluated the role of extended surgical staging procedures, which generally includes a combination of laparoscopy, peritoneal lavage, and mediastinoscopy, to more precisely stage patients with MPM.
Methods: One hundred eighteen patients with MPM, deemed clinically and radiologically resectable, underwent extended surgical staging. Mediastinoscopy was performed in 111 patients, laparoscopy in 109 patients, and peritoneal lavage in 78 patients.
Results: Ten (9.2%) patients had gross evidence of transdiaphragmatic or peritoneal involvement. Peritoneal lavage was positive for metastatic MPM in 2 (2.6%) patients, neither of whom had obvious transdiaphragmatic invasion. Ipsilateral mediastinal nodes contained metastatic tumor in 10 of 62 (16.1%) patients. Contralateral nodes were positive in 4 of 111 (3.6%) patients. Of the patients who underwent biopsy of both ipsilateral and contralateral mediastinal nodes, and who had complete pathologic staging after extrapleural pneumonectomy (n = 46), 14 (30.4%) had N2-positive nodes. Only 5 of these patients were correctly identified by mediastinoscopy (sensitivity 36%, accuracy 80%). Extended surgical staging identified 16 (13.6%) patients who had contralateral nodal involvement, transdiaphragmatic invasion, or positive peritoneal cytology.
Conclusions: Extended surgical staging defines an important subset of patients with unresectable MPM not identified by imaging. Because of the potential morbidity associated with extrapleural pneumonectomy, we advocate that extended surgical staging be performed in all patients with MPM before resection.
Glossary
- staging
- the process of finding out whether cancer has spread and if so, how far. There is more than one system for staging. The TNM system, described below, is one used often. The TNM system for staging gives three key pieces of information: T refers to the size of the Tumor N describes how far the cancer has spread to nearby Nodes M shows whether the cancer has spread (Metastasized) to other organs of the body Letters or numbers after the T, N, and M give more details about each of these factors. To make this information somewhat clearer, the TNM descriptions can be grouped together into a simpler set of stages, labeled with Roman numerals. In general, the lower the number, the less the cancer has spread. A higher number means a more serious cancer.
- resection
- surgery to remove part or all of an organ or other structure.
- morbidity
- a measure of the new cases of a disease in a population; the number of people who have a disease.
- mediastinoscopy
- (me-dee-as-tin-OS-ko-pee) examination of the chest cavity using a lighted tube replaced under the chest bone (sternum). This allows the doctor to see the lymph nodes in this area and remove samples to check for cancer.
- imaging
- any method used to produce a picture of internal body structures. Some imaging methods used to detect cancer are x-rays (including mammograms and CT scans), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), scintigraphy, and ultrasound.
- cytology
- (cy-tahl-uh-gee) the branch of science that deals with the structure and function of cells.
- cancer
- malignancy; a group of diseases typified by abnormal, generally out-of-control, cell growth.
- biopsy
- (buy-op-see) the removal of a sample of tissue to see whether cancer cells are present. There are several kinds of biopsies. In some, a very thin needle is used to draw fluid and cells from a lump. In a core biopsy, a larger needle is used to remove more tissue.
- tumor
- an abnormal lump or mass of tissue. Tumors can be benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous).
- mesothelioma
- a tumor derived from mesothelial tissue, such as the peritoneum (lining the abdomen) or pleura (lining the lungs). More on mesothelioma.
- extrapleural pneumonectomy
- (EPP) surgery to remove the pleura, diaphragm, pericardium, and entire lung involved with the tumor. You can view a web cast from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston of this procedure being done by Dr. David Sugarbaker: see the extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) web cast here.
- peritoneal
- (pair-uh-tuh-nee-al) the serous membrane that lines the cavity of the abdomen. (More on Peritoneal Mesothelioma.)
