Methods: A total of 687 patients (636 males, 51 females; mean age 60.8±9.1 years; range 29 to 82 years) who were performed anatomical resection with the diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer between January 2005 and December 2011 were analyzed retrospectively. Patients with or without bronchoscopically detected endobronchial lesion were divided into two groups. The two groups were compared in terms of having or not having hilar or ipsilateral mediastinal lymph node metastasis.

Results: As a result of an evaluation with chi-square analysis performed on patient groups with (n=174) or without (n=513) endobronchial lesion, we detected a significant correlation between the presence of endobronchial lesion and hilar lymph node metastasis status (p=0.014), while we did not detect a significant correlation between the presence of endobronchial lesion and ipsilateral mediastinal lymph node metastasis status (p=0.383). Five-year survival in patients with or without endobronchial lesion was 58.6% and 40.2%, respectively, with a statistically significant correlation (p<0.001).

Conclusion: Hilar lymph node metastasis is significantly more frequently observed in non-small lung cancer cases with endobronchial lesion. This fact raises the suspicion that metastasis may develop via the peribronchial lymphatics.