Skip metastases of the lymph nodes in bronchogenic carcinoma

Of the 800 patients who underwent pulmonary resection and mediastinal lymph node dissection for lung cancer, 19.4% had skip metastases of the mediastinal nodes. The survival rate of this group was better than that of patients who had involvement of the pulmonary nodes as well as mediastinal nodes. There was a higher rate of skip metastases in upper lobe carcinoma than in lower lobe carcinoma, and lower lobe carcinoma frequently metastasized to the upper mediastinal nodes, especially to tracheobronchial and subcarinal nodes.