Remediastinoscopy after induction chemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer

This study was undertaken to evaluate the technical feasibility and the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of remediastinoscopy in restaging N2 bronchogenic carcinoma treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Patients presenting mediastinal lymph node involvement at mediastinoscopy received three or four cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with mitomycin, iphosphamide, and cisplatin or cisplatin and gemcitabine. If there was no disease progression, these patients underwent remediastinoscopy and, if no residual extracapsular involvement or N3 disease was found, a thoracotomy was then carried out.

Twenty-four patients underwent remediastinoscopy. In 12 (50%) remediastinoscopy was positive. The 12 remaining patients were operated on and the tumors resected: 5 pneumonectomies and 7 lobectomies. Lymphadenectomy specimens showed residual disease in mediastinal lymph nodes in 5 patients (pN2) and hilar lymph nodes in 1 patient (pN1). The other 6 patients were free of nodal disease, and 4 of them presented no involvement at lung level either. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of remediastinoscopy were 0.7, 1, and 0.8, respectively.

Remediastinoscopy is a technically feasible staging tool with high diagnostic accuracy that is useful in the selection of patients who can be served best by complete resection after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.