Introduction
NSCLC, cancers, Lung cancer, deaths, Cancer
CANCERS, DISEASE, LUNG CANCER, STAGE I NSCLC, LYMPH NODE METASTASIS, TUMOR METASTASIS, NSCLC, CANCER
Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths globally, both, in men and women. An estimated 2.09 million new cases are detected worldwide, accounting for 11.6% of all cancers [The current National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines recommend complete surgical resection followed by a platinum-based dual adjuvant chemotherapy regimen for patients with pathological N1 disease [Despite advances in imaging technology, N1 lymph node metastasis is challenging to detect preoperatively and is often not fully diagnosed until the postoperative pathological examination. Patients with clinical N1 disease are considered surgical candidates, based on the current TNM staging system. However, upstaging or downstaging may occur in the nodal condition defined by the pathological examination after surgery [Mediastinal lymph node dissection should be performed even in patients with clinical stage I NSCLC. However, not all N1 lymph nodes are dissected during surgery. N1 lymph nodes can be dissected on the back table and then sent for pathological examination prior to coming in contact with the formaldehyde solution; this is done in order to accurately complete the staging procedure as formaldehyde is thought to cause deterioration in the specimen’s structure, including shrinkage and changes in parenchyma volume, thus creating false negatives. In our study, we aimed to examine the effects of the lymph node dissection method on staging outcomes, diagnosis of tumor metastasis in one or more N1 lymph nodes, and its impact on survival rates among patients with NSCLC who underwent surgical resection.