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Current status of and perspectives regarding neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

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Abstract

The significance of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT) for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains controversial with regard to the pathological response and long-term survival. We herein review the current status of and future perspectives regarding NACRT followed by esophagectomy for locally advanced ESCC. Some studies have suggested that a pathological complete response with NACRT is more common in patients with ESCC than in those with adenocarcinoma and that NACRT provided a survival benefit limited to patients with ESCC. However, NACRT may increase the risk of postoperative complications after esophagectomy. It is obvious that a favorable pathological response is the most important factor for obtaining a survival benefit, although no established parameters have been implemented clinically to predict the response to NACRT. Prospective clinical studies and basic research studies to identify predictive biomarkers for the response to NACRT are needed to aid in the development of NACRT treatment strategies for patients with ESCC.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Akio Nagaoka for assisting with the preparation of the manuscript. This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Deptartment of Surgery and Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8582, Japan

    Hiroshi Saeki, Yuichiro Nakashima, Yoko Zaitsu, Yasuo Tsuda, Yuta Kasagi, Koji Ando, Yu Imamura, Kippei Ohgaki, Shuhei Ito, Yasue Kimura, Eiji Oki & Yoshihiko Maehara

  2. Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, National Kyushu Cancer Center, Fukuoka, Japan

    Akinori Egashira & Masaru Morita

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  1. Hiroshi Saeki
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  2. Yuichiro Nakashima
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Correspondence to Hiroshi Saeki.

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Saeki, H., Nakashima, Y., Zaitsu, Y. et al. Current status of and perspectives regarding neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Surg Today 46, 261–267 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-015-1144-0

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