Effectiveness of scalene node biopsy for staging of lung cancer in the absence of palpable adenopathy.

Scalene node biopsy (SNB) has been performed in patients with lung cancer at the Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center if any of the following criteria has been present: (1) potentially resectable central lesion by chest radiograph, or (2) significant cardiac or pulmonary dysfunction, thereby placing the patient at increased risk for thoracotomy, or (3) a diagnosis of adenocarcinoma prior to SNB. Within these guidelines, a retrospective study was undertaken to determine the benefit of routine SNB in the absence of clinically palpable scalene nodes. In a 2-year period beginning April 1981, 56 patients (37 males) presented with radiographic evidence of lung carcinoma without clinical evidence of scalene adenopathy. Approximately half of the lesions were of a central position. While the majority had symptoms of cough, hemoptysis, or chest pain, the primary lung lesion was identified on routine chest radiograph in 15 (27%). In only three was there no history of smoking, the remainder having at least a 20-pack-year history of cigarette use. Following a routine evaluation, 57 SNBs were performed alone or in concert with other surgical procedures (mediastinoscopy, bronchoscopy). Of these, only two (3.5%) were diagnostic and indicative of unresectable disease. While in one patient no additional procedure was performed, a simultaneous Chamberlain procedure in the other confirmed that the patient was unresectable for cure. In the remaining patients, tissue diagnosis of cancer was obtained through other maneuvers. Because of the low probability that SNB in the absence of clinically palpable nodes altered the management of lung cancer, we do not believe it to be of benefit in the diagnosis or staging of this disease.