Comparison of outcomes between neoadjuvant treatment followed by surgery and surgical treatment alone in patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer: Our single-center experience

BACKGROUND: This study aims to investigate the effect of neoadjuvant therapy on overall survival and recurrence-free survival in locally advanced esophageal cancer patients. METHODS: Between January 2010 and December 2019, a total of 143 patients (84 males, 59 females; mean age: 58.8±11.5 years; range, 26 to 87 years) operated for esophageal cancer were retrospectively analyzed. A comparison was made between the groups of 42 patients who underwent direct surgery and 42 patients who underwent surgery after neoadjuvant therapy. The patients were selected by matching one to one with propensity score with a sensitivty of 0.054. RESULTS: Pathological complete response was observed in 21 (50%) of 42 patients who received neoadjuvant therapy. No progression was detected in any of the patients. While the five-year overall survival rate was 58.3% in patients with a pathologic complete response, this rate was 52.8% in patients without a complete response (p=0.709). The five-year overall survival rate was 8% (median 22.3 months) in patients who did not receive neoadjuvant therapy and it was 52.9% (median 62.5 months) in those who received neoadjuvant therapy (p<0.001). The five-year recurrence-free survival rate for patients who did not receive neoadjuvant therapy was 26.2% (median 14.5 months), whereas this rate was 41.3% (median 35 months) for patients who received neoadjuvant therapy (p=0.025). CONCLUSION: In patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer, the overall survival and disease-free survival rates are significantly better with surgical treatment after neoadjuvant chemotherapy/ neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy compared to surgery alone.