Resection of metachronous lymph node metastases from hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy: report of four cases.

We report 4 cases of surgical resection of metachronous lymph node (LN) metastases from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) following hepatectomy. Clinicopathological features and results of LN dissection were investigated in the 4 patients. One patient was found to have a single metastasis in the mediastinal LNs, another had multiple metastases in the mediastinal and abdominal LNs, and the other 2 had single metastases in the abdominal LN. The locations of the abdominal LN metastases were behind the pancreas head in 2 patients and around the abdominal aorta in 1 patient. They all underwent surgical resection of metastatic LNs and had no postoperative complications. The 3 patients whose LN metastases were solitary have been alive for more than 2 years after LN resection, and one of them is free from recurrence. The patient with multiple LN metastases died 13 months after LN resection due to carcinomatosis. With the expectation of long-term survival, a single metachronous LN metastasis from HCC after hepatectomy should be resected in patients without uncontrollable intrahepatic or extrahepatic tumors.