Clinicopathological features in N0 oesophageal cancer patients.

BACKGROUND

The prognosis for patients with N0 oesophageal cancer is favourable, but relevant prognostic factors and appropriate surveillance protocols have not been identified for these patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A total of 210 oesophageal cancer patients were included in this study. Of these, 92 (43.8%) had no lymph node metastasis. Predictive factors for lymph node metastasis were evaluated in N0 oesophageal cancer. Survival, prognostic factors, causes of death and pattern of recurrence were assessed between patients with and without lymph node metastasis.

RESULTS

Logistic regression analysis revealed that depth of tumour invasion (T1) was an independent predictive factor for N0. The Cox proportional hazard regression model showed that venous invasion was an independent prognostic factor for disease-specific survival in N0 oesophageal cancer patients (hazard ratio=3.977, p=0.042). Locoregional recurrence was less frequent in patients with N0 oesophageal cancer (p=0.0319).

CONCLUSION

Meticulous and long-term follow-up is necessary even for patients with N0 oesophageal cancer, particularly for those with adverse prognostic factors.