Disease-free survival for 6 years and 4 months after dissection of recurrent abdominal paraaortic nodes (No. 16) in gastric cancer: Report of a case

We herein report the case of a 63-year-old woman who underwent curative surgery consisting of a subtotal gastrectomy with D2 lymph node dissection for advanced stomach cancer in June 1984, and later underwent systemic dissection of recurrent abdominal paraaortic lymph nodes by a retromesenteric approach in June 1989. Metastatic nodes were found in nos. 16b1 (interaorticocaval), 16b2 (interaorticocaval), and 280 (aortic carinal). One of the resected nodes, which was histologically diagnosed as being poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, measured approximately 10 x 7 cm and infiltrated the inferior caval vein. There was no distant metastasis except for nodal metastases. Since the reoperation, the patient has been disease-free for 6 years and 4 months, and she continues to visit our hospital as an outpatient. The findings of this case therefore suggest the significance of paraaortic lymph node dissection. To our knowledge, this is the first report in the world of a gastric cancer patient who has remained disease-free for more than 5 years after the systemic dissection of recurrent paraaortic lymph nodes.