Clinical Outcome of Additional Esophagectomy After Endoscopic Treatment for Superficial Esophageal Cancer.

Background Endoscopic treatment is one of the options for superficial esophageal cancer, but additional therapy such as esophagectomy or chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is sometimes needed due to noncurative resection. However, the outcome of additional therapy after endoscopic treatment has not been fully evaluated. Methods In 160 patients with superficial esophageal cancer, including 37 patients who underwent esophagectomy and 123 patients who underwent CRT after noncurative endoscopic resection, outcomes were investigated. Results The CRT group included more elderly patients than the surgery group, although there were no significant differences in tumor depth or lymphovascular invasion between the two groups. Overall survival was significantly better in the surgery group than in the CRT group (5-year overall survival: 94.3% vs. 79.9%; p = 0.039). Two (5.4%) patients in the surgery group who developed lymph node recurrence achieved complete response by chemotherapy or CRT, and 9 of 16 patients (13.0%) in the CRT group who developed recurrence underwent salvage esophagectomy or lymphadenectomy. As a result, the 5-year cause-specific survival was 100% in the surgery group and 92.8% in the CRT group. SM2 invasion (≥ SM2) was significantly associated with recurrence after CRT, while lymphatic invasion was associated with lymph node metastasis in the surgery group. Conclusion Endoscopic treatment combined with esophagectomy or CRT can be a curative treatment option in patients with superficial esophageal cancer. However, esophagectomy rather than CRT should be recommended for patients with massive submucosal tumor invasion due to the risk of recurrence after CRT.