Metastasis to the posterior thoracic paraaortic lymph nodes rarely occurs in esophageal cancer, and a treatment strategy has not been established. We treated two cases of esophageal cancer with this type of metastasis; in both cases, we successfully performed surgical resection after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. In case 1, the patient received neoadjuvant chemotherapy, which consisted of docetaxel, cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil, and then underwent dissection of the posterior thoracic paraaortic lymph nodes. The left thoracic approach was used together with subtotal esophagectomy via a right thoracotomy. In case 2, the patient also received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and underwent dissection of the posterior thoracic paraaortic lymph nodes. The left thoracoscopic approach was used together with a subtotal esophagectomy and a right upper and middle pulmonary lobectomy (due to lung cancer) with a right thoracotomy. After 42 and 12 months' post-surgery, respectively, the patients were doing well without any evidence of recurrence.
Keywords: Case report; Esophageal cancer; Neoadjuvant chemotherapy; Posterior thoracic paraaortic lymph node metastasis; Surgery.