with two-field (total mediastinum) lymphadenectomy is a safe and appropriate operation for squamous cell carcinoma of the lower thoracic esophagus.
INTRODUCTIONRadical esophag ectomy with lymphadenectomy remains the mainstay of curative therapy for esophageal carcinoma. Complete resection of esophagus and regional lymph node (R 0 resection) are essential to improve longterm survival [1][2][3] . For carcinomas of the lower thoracic esophagus, different tumor characteristics between the Western and Eastern countries cause various attitudes on their surgical management [4] . Depending on the attending surgeon's philosophy, surgical approaches to carcinomas of the lower thoracic esophagus vary from the conventional left thoraco-abdominal approach [5,6] to the transhiatal approach without thoracotomy [7][8][9] , Ivor Lewis approach [10][11][12] , and recently reported thoracoscopic approach [13][14][15] . On the other hand, controversy continues over the optimal extent of lymphadenectomy to be performed with esophagectomy. Some authors do not favor lymphadenectomy considering lymph node involvement as systemic disease with no hope for cure, and the primary goal of surgical intervention is palliative, with a low surgical morbidity and mortality [8] . However, some authors prefer two-field lymphadenectomy and regard it as a standard surgical procedure [10,12,16] . What is more, other authors, mainly from Japan, advocate threefield lymphadenectomy in order to obtain accurate staging,
RESULTS:The operative morbidity and mortality was 15.1% and the mortality was 2.7%. Lymph node metastases were found in 52 patients (71.2%). Nodal metastases to the upper, middle, lower mediastini and upper abdomen were found in 13 (17.8%), 15 (20.5%), 30 (41.1%), and 25 (34.2%) patients, respectively. Postoperative staging was as follows: stageⅠ in 5 patients, stage Ⅱ in 34 patients, stage Ⅲ in 32 patients, and stage Ⅳ in 2 patients, respectively. The overall 5-year survival rate was 23.3%. For N0 and N1 patients, the 5-year survival rate was 38.1% and 17.3%, respectively (χ 2 = 22.65, P < 0.01). The 5-year survival rate for patients in stages Ⅱa, Ⅱb and Ⅲ was 31.2%, 27.8% and 12.5%, respectively (χ 2 = 29.18, P < 0.01).