Abstract
Background
Patients with surgical T4b (sT4b) thoracic esophageal cancer undergo exploratory thoracotomy or non-curative resection. However, in some cases, it is difficult to decide whether to perform exploratory thoracotomy without resection, or perform non-curative resection to the extent possible. The purpose of this retrospective study was to analyze surgical outcomes of sT4b thoracic esophageal cancer to clarify the optimal treatment strategy.
Methods
A total of 12 patients with sT4b thoracic esophageal cancer underwent exploratory thoracotomy (n = 7) or non-curative resection (n = 5) between January 2011 and December 2015. Of the seven patients who underwent exploratory thoracotomy, two underwent bypass surgery. In the five patients who underwent non-curative resection, gastric reconstruction was performed. Clinical data from these 12 patients were analyzed retrospectively.
Results
Compared to the seven patients who underwent exploratory thoracotomy (Ex group), the five patients who underwent non-curative resection (NC group) had a significantly longer period until the start of post-treatment (median, 23/57 (Ex/NC) days; P = 0.0027). No significant difference was observed in the postoperative survival period between the two groups (Median survival time (MST), 9/12 (Ex/NC) months; P = 0.55). In the prognostic factor analysis, patients with progressive disease (PD) responsiveness to preoperative treatment had a significantly poorer prognosis (MST, 13.5/5.5 (partial response-stable disease/PD) months; P = 0.01). On the other hand, patients with cStage 3 disease and who received postoperative chemoradiotherapy had a relatively good prognosis (cStage 3/4; MST 12.5/5.5 month, P = 0.09, postoperative chemoradiotherapy received/not received; MST 13/5 month, P = 0.11). The period until the start of post-treatment was not a prognostic factor.
Conclusion
Responsiveness to preoperative treatment was found to be a prognostic factor in patients with sT4b thoracic esophageal cancer. Thus, if patients show a poor response to preoperative treatment, R0 resection should be performed without exploratory thoracotomy. On the contrary, for patients with a good response to preoperative treatment, administration of post-operative chemoradiotherapy should be considered, while maintaining performance status without causing serious secondary injury.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.
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