Feasibility of intraoperative indocyanine green injection to identify lymph nodes at risk of metastatic disease for early-stage lung cancerCentral MessagePerspective

Objectives: Despite surgical resection and mediastinal lymph node dissection, 34% of patients with stage IB to IIB non–small cell lung cancer demonstrate recurrence within 3.5 years, indicating disease dissemination undetected by current staging methods. Although 23.1% of patients with clinical N0 d...

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Main Authors: Desi K.M. ter Woerds, MSc, Roel L.J. Verhoeven, PhD, Stefan M. van der Heide, MD, Erik H.J.G. Aarntzen, MD, PhD, Monika G. Looijen-Salamon, MD, PhD, Shoko Vos, MD, PhD, Ad F.T.M. Verhagen, MD, PhD, Erik H.F.M. van der Heijden, MD, PhD
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-08-01
Series:JTCVS Techniques
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666250725002238
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author Desi K.M. ter Woerds, MSc
Roel L.J. Verhoeven, PhD
Stefan M. van der Heide, MD
Erik H.J.G. Aarntzen, MD, PhD
Monika G. Looijen-Salamon, MD, PhD
Shoko Vos, MD, PhD
Ad F.T.M. Verhagen, MD, PhD
Erik H.F.M. van der Heijden, MD, PhD
author_facet Desi K.M. ter Woerds, MSc
Roel L.J. Verhoeven, PhD
Stefan M. van der Heide, MD
Erik H.J.G. Aarntzen, MD, PhD
Monika G. Looijen-Salamon, MD, PhD
Shoko Vos, MD, PhD
Ad F.T.M. Verhagen, MD, PhD
Erik H.F.M. van der Heijden, MD, PhD
author_sort Desi K.M. ter Woerds, MSc
collection DOAJ
description Objectives: Despite surgical resection and mediastinal lymph node dissection, 34% of patients with stage IB to IIB non–small cell lung cancer demonstrate recurrence within 3.5 years, indicating disease dissemination undetected by current staging methods. Although 23.1% of patients with clinical N0 disease are upstaged to pN1 or pN2 disease after surgery, occult disease may still be present in patients with pN0 disease. The aim of this research was to explore implementation of a sentinel lymph node (SLN) procedure to identify lymph nodes at risk and determine its effect on staging. Methods: In this single-center prospective study, patients with cN0 disease with resectable non–small cell lung cancer underwent intraoperative indocyanine green injection followed by the identification of up to 3 SLNs with near-infrared imaging. All lymph nodes were analyzed by conventional hematoxylin and eosin staining and the SLNs were additionally analyzed by serial sectioning and cytokeratin staining to detect tumor cells that may be missed by conventional analysis. Results: SLNs were successfully identified in all 48 patients (100%). In 3 cases, injections were incorrectly positioned, possibly leading to incorrect SLN identification. Eight patients were diagnosed with pN1 or pN2 disease postoperatively; all were detected by conventional pathological assessment. Analysis of correctly performed SLN procedures showed negative SLNs were 100% indicative of absence of metastatic spread downstream. In 2 patients, serial sectioning and cytokeratin staining of the SLN revealed isolated tumor cells in 1 N1 node. Conclusions: An intraoperative SLN procedure using indocyanine green is feasible with an identification rate of 100%. A negative SLN was an indicator for absence of metastases in lymph nodes downstream.
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spelling doaj-art-ffabb8afbe0542f0aebdcc30302244db2025-08-20T03:41:44ZengElsevierJTCVS Techniques2666-25072025-08-013217218110.1016/j.xjtc.2025.05.003Feasibility of intraoperative indocyanine green injection to identify lymph nodes at risk of metastatic disease for early-stage lung cancerCentral MessagePerspectiveDesi K.M. ter Woerds, MSc0Roel L.J. Verhoeven, PhD1Stefan M. van der Heide, MD2Erik H.J.G. Aarntzen, MD, PhD3Monika G. Looijen-Salamon, MD, PhD4Shoko Vos, MD, PhD5Ad F.T.M. Verhagen, MD, PhD6Erik H.F.M. van der Heijden, MD, PhD7Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The NetherlandsDepartment of Pulmonary Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Address for reprints: Roel L.J.Verhoeven, PhD, Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, Geert Grooteplein Zuid 10, 6525 GA, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The NetherlandsDepartment of Medical Imaging, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The NetherlandsDepartment of Pathology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The NetherlandsDepartment of Pathology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The NetherlandsDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The NetherlandsDepartment of Pulmonary Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The NetherlandsObjectives: Despite surgical resection and mediastinal lymph node dissection, 34% of patients with stage IB to IIB non–small cell lung cancer demonstrate recurrence within 3.5 years, indicating disease dissemination undetected by current staging methods. Although 23.1% of patients with clinical N0 disease are upstaged to pN1 or pN2 disease after surgery, occult disease may still be present in patients with pN0 disease. The aim of this research was to explore implementation of a sentinel lymph node (SLN) procedure to identify lymph nodes at risk and determine its effect on staging. Methods: In this single-center prospective study, patients with cN0 disease with resectable non–small cell lung cancer underwent intraoperative indocyanine green injection followed by the identification of up to 3 SLNs with near-infrared imaging. All lymph nodes were analyzed by conventional hematoxylin and eosin staining and the SLNs were additionally analyzed by serial sectioning and cytokeratin staining to detect tumor cells that may be missed by conventional analysis. Results: SLNs were successfully identified in all 48 patients (100%). In 3 cases, injections were incorrectly positioned, possibly leading to incorrect SLN identification. Eight patients were diagnosed with pN1 or pN2 disease postoperatively; all were detected by conventional pathological assessment. Analysis of correctly performed SLN procedures showed negative SLNs were 100% indicative of absence of metastatic spread downstream. In 2 patients, serial sectioning and cytokeratin staining of the SLN revealed isolated tumor cells in 1 N1 node. Conclusions: An intraoperative SLN procedure using indocyanine green is feasible with an identification rate of 100%. A negative SLN was an indicator for absence of metastases in lymph nodes downstream.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666250725002238thoracic surgeryindocyanine greennear-infrared imagingsentinel lymph node procedurelymph node metastasespathological analysis
spellingShingle Desi K.M. ter Woerds, MSc
Roel L.J. Verhoeven, PhD
Stefan M. van der Heide, MD
Erik H.J.G. Aarntzen, MD, PhD
Monika G. Looijen-Salamon, MD, PhD
Shoko Vos, MD, PhD
Ad F.T.M. Verhagen, MD, PhD
Erik H.F.M. van der Heijden, MD, PhD
Feasibility of intraoperative indocyanine green injection to identify lymph nodes at risk of metastatic disease for early-stage lung cancerCentral MessagePerspective
JTCVS Techniques
thoracic surgery
indocyanine green
near-infrared imaging
sentinel lymph node procedure
lymph node metastases
pathological analysis
title Feasibility of intraoperative indocyanine green injection to identify lymph nodes at risk of metastatic disease for early-stage lung cancerCentral MessagePerspective
title_full Feasibility of intraoperative indocyanine green injection to identify lymph nodes at risk of metastatic disease for early-stage lung cancerCentral MessagePerspective
title_fullStr Feasibility of intraoperative indocyanine green injection to identify lymph nodes at risk of metastatic disease for early-stage lung cancerCentral MessagePerspective
title_full_unstemmed Feasibility of intraoperative indocyanine green injection to identify lymph nodes at risk of metastatic disease for early-stage lung cancerCentral MessagePerspective
title_short Feasibility of intraoperative indocyanine green injection to identify lymph nodes at risk of metastatic disease for early-stage lung cancerCentral MessagePerspective
title_sort feasibility of intraoperative indocyanine green injection to identify lymph nodes at risk of metastatic disease for early stage lung cancercentral messageperspective
topic thoracic surgery
indocyanine green
near-infrared imaging
sentinel lymph node procedure
lymph node metastases
pathological analysis
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666250725002238
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