Easier node dissection after chemoradiotherapy for lung cancer with collagen insertion at mediastinoscopy

Induction chemoradiotherapy followed by anatomical resection is a current therapeutic strategy for non-small-cell lung cancer with mediastinal node involvement. Dense peritracheal fibrosis and sclerosis after chemoradiotherapy cause difficult mediastinal node dissection. We evaluated a novel technique to make the mediastinal node dissection easier after induction therapy.

At the end of mediastinoscopic node biopsy for staging of lung cancer, cotton-type collagen was inserted anterior and lateral to the trachea in patients with pathologically confirmed mediastinal node involvement (n=45). The induction therapy consisted of concurrent use of platinum-based chemotherapy and hyperfractionated radiotherapy. After the chemoradiotherapy all patients underwent a pulmonary resection with complete mediastinal node dissection 7-12 weeks after the collagen insertion. Surgical findings of the mediastinum and the time for node dissection were compared with those without collagen insertion at mediastinoscopy after chemoradiotherapy (n=5).

All five patients without collagen insertion showed sclerotic and fibrotic change of mediastinal nodes with severe adhesion to the trachea. In 42 of 45 patients with collagen insertion (93.3%) the collagen remained unabsorbed and separated the mediastinal nodes from the trachea. Mediastinal node dissection was easily accomplished by removing mediastinal tissues lateral and anterior to the collagen. The rate of mediastinal node separation was significantly higher with collagen insertion than without (p<0.0001). The times for node dissection in patients with and without collagen insertion showed no significant difference.

Cotton-type collagen insertion at staging mediastinoscopy for lung cancer separates the mediastinal nodes from the trachea and makes the node dissection easier after induction chemoradiotherapy.