Analysis of factors influencing long-term survival after surgical resection for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE

We evaluated prognostic factors in 34 patients discharged from hospital after surgical resection for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

There were 22 males and 12 females; mean age was 59.3 years (range 42-77 years). Preoperative neoadjuvant treatment consisted in chemotherapy alone in three patients and in combined radiochemotherapy in 14. Digestive continuity was restored with a gastric transplant in 26 patients and a colonic graft in 8. Surgery was curative in 28 patients and palliative in 6. There were three stage I, 14 stage II, 13 stage III, and 4 stage IV diseases. In 19 patients the lymph nodes were invaded. The tumour was well differentiated in 17 patients, moderately in 9, and poorly in 8.

RESULTS

Follow-up ranged from 2 to 100 months. Overall median postoperative survival was 21 months. By univariate analysis, factors influencing survival were curative surgery (p = 0.04), stage (p = 0.006), and nodal involvement (p = 0.0003). Nodal involvement was an independent prognostic factor by multivariate analysis (p = 0.0002). Patient age and sex, perioperative transfusion, digestive transplant, tumour local extension, grade of differentiation, and distant metastasis did not influence survival. Also, we did not observe any significant benefit of preoperative or postoperative chemotherapy or radiochemotherapy.

CONCLUSIONS

Nodal involvement was the most important prognostic factor influencing survival. Therefore, an earlier diagnosis of oesophageal cancer in a less advanced stage is important to improve survival rates. Our study could not confirm the benefit of neoadjuvant therapy in terms of late survival.