Clinical outcomes of extended esophagectomy with three-field lymph node dissection for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Extended esophagectomy with 3FLND can be performed with an acceptable mortality. Metastases frequently involved the upper thoracic and cervical lesions, and cervical nodal disease was correlated with thoracic nodal status. 3FLND proved to be an important staging system in 11% of patients. An excellent overall survival suggests a superiority of 3FLND when performed at experienced centers.