1996 Volume 36 Issue 6 Pages 827-831
The authers treated a 52-year-old female patient who had long-term survival for more than 6 years following resection of lung cancer. She was admitted to our hospital due to an abnormal shadow in the left upper lobe on chest X-ray film. A supraclavicular hard lymph node was already palpable, and serum CEA titers were elevated to 27.4ng/ml. Under a diagnosis of clinical N3 lung cancer, we performed a midsternotomy with anterolateral thoracotomy and cervical incision. The primary tumor was adjacent to the mediastinal pleura, and several hilar and mediastinal lymph node metastases were recognized macroscopically. Left upper lobectomy, and dissection of bilateral cervical and mediastinal lymph nodes were carried out with combined resection of the main pulmonary artery. The pathological diagnosis was adenocarcinoma (T3N3M0). Chemotherapy was performed postoperatively. She is doing well without recurrence. We considered that lung cancer with palpable supraclavicular lymph node metastasis should not simply be eliminated from the indications of curative operation.
