Prognostic Value of Immunohistochemically Identifiable Tumor Cells in Lymph Nodes of Patients with Completely Resected Esophageal Cancer

Esophageal cancer is an aggressive carcinoma with a poor prognosis. Although postoperative mortality has declined and rates of complete resection have improved considerably, reported rates of survival five years after surgery range from 20 to 36 percent. 1 – 5 Early metastatic relapse after the complete resection of an apparently localized primary lesion 6 – 8 indicates that disseminated tumor cells, undetectable by current methods, may already have been present at the time of surgery. Monoclonal antibodies against tumor-associated antigens or epithelial-cell proteins can be used to detect individual epithelial tumor cells in lymph nodes that are free of metastases on routine histopathological examination. . . .