Lymph node dissection

In 2005, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) proposed a definition of complete resection for NSCLC. ⁷ Systematic nodal dissection (ND) or lobe‐specific nodal dissection (LSND) is widely recommended. In particular, LSND implies dissection and histological examination of intrapulmonary (regions 11 and following) and hilar (region 10) nodes and at least three N2 regions depending on lobar location of the primary tumor. Analysis of regions 7 and 10 is mandatory regardless of tumor location. The minimal number of resected lymph nodes is three from the N1 and N2 regions. N1 denotes lymph nodes contained within the pleural reflection (hilar and parenchymal, stations 10–14); N2 denotes lymph nodes in ipsilateral mediastinal nodes outside the pleural reflection (stations 2–9). ⁸ According to the above definition, we define the number of lymph node dissection ≥3 regions as LSNDr, <3 regions as non‐LSNDr, the number of lymph node dissection ≥10 as LSNDn, and <10 as non‐LSND.