Abstract
Background
The present study investigated prognostic factors in patients with resectable locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) among various clinicopathological features related to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and surgery, and the indications for additional treatment after surgery were considered.
Methods
A total of 113 patients with clinical stage II or III ESCC, who had undergone NAC followed by a thoracic esophagectomy with a three-field lymphadenectomy were retrospectively reviewed. NAC consisted of either two courses of cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil or three courses of docetaxel, cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil, with a new course beginning every 3 weeks.
Results
The overall survival (OS) rate was poorer in the pN-positive group than in the pN-negative group (P < 0.001). In terms of the histological therapeutic effect, the OS rate was poorer in the worse pathological responder group than in the better pathological responder group (P = 0.001). A multivariate analysis examining overall survival suggested that only pN (HR 3.204, P = 0.007) and worse pathological responder (HR 2.347, P = 0.041) were independent prognostic factors. The OS rate was compared among four groups classified according to the different combinations of pN and pathological response. A group of patients with pN-positive and worse pathological response had a significantly poorer outcome than the other groups.
Conclusions
The present study suggested that patients with resectable advanced ESCC undergoing NAC followed by surgery, who have both pN and worse pathological response, have a poor prognosis.
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The protocol for this retrospective study has been approved by the institutional review board of the Tokai University Hospital (Registration No.18R208). This work followed the guidelines set forth in the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000, concerning Human and Animal Rights. This article does not contain human or animal subjects performed by any authors.
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Oguma, J., Ozawa, S., Koyanagi, K. et al. Prognostic significance of pathological tumor response and residual nodal metastasis in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery. Esophagus 16, 395–401 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10388-019-00679-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10388-019-00679-8