Is central lung tumour location really predictive for occult mediastinal nodal disease in (suspected) non-small-cell lung cancer staged cN0 on F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography?

摘要

OBJECTIVES: Current guidelines recommend preoperative invasive mediastinal staging in centrally located tumours with negative mediastinum on positron emission tomography-computed tomography, based on a 20-30% prevalence of occult mediastinal disease (pN2-3). However, a uniform definition of central tumour location is lacking. Our objective was to determine the best definition in predicting occult pN2-3.