Lymphadenectomy around the left renal vein in Siewert type II adenocarcinoma of the oesophagogastric junction.

BACKGROUND: The extent of lymphadenectomy in patients with Siewert type II adenocarcinoma of the oesophagogastric junction is controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate lymph node involvement around the left renal vein.
METHODS: Lymph node involvement and prognosis in patients with Siewert type II cancers treated by R0-1 surgical resection were investigated, with regard to lymphadenectomy around the left renal vein. Based on the incidence of involvement at each node, the node stations were divided into three tiers (first tier, more than 20 per cent involvement; second tier, 10-20 per cent involvement; third tier, less than 10 per cent involvement).
RESULTS: Of 150 patients with type II oesophagogastric adenocarcinoma, 94 had left renal vein lymphadenectomy. The first lymph node tier included nodes along the lesser curvature, right cardia, left cardia and left gastric artery, with involvement of 28·0-46·0 per cent and a 5-year survival rate of 42-53 per cent in patients with positive nodes. The nodes around the lower mediastinum, left renal vein, splenic artery and coeliac axis constituted the second tier, with involvement of 12·7-18 per cent and a 5-year survival rate of 11-35 per cent. With regard to the left renal vein, the incidence of involvement was 17 per cent and the 5-year rate survival rate was 19 per cent. Multivariable analysis showed that left renal vein lymphadenectomy was an independent prognostic factor in patients with pathological tumour category pathological T3-4 disease (hazard ratio 0·51, 95 per cent confidence interval 0·26 to 0·99; P = 0·048).
CONCLUSION: Left renal vein nodal involvement is similar to that seen along the splenic artery, in the lower mediastinum and coeliac axis, with similar impact on patient survival.