Prognostic analysis of recurrent esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after neoadjuvant therapy combined with surgical treatment

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy and prognostic factors of recurrent esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after neoadjuvant therapy combined with surgery. Methods From December 2011 to December 2015, 152 cases of recurrent thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after neoadjuvant therapy combined with surgery were retrospectively analyzed. The overall survival (OS) after treatment failure, clinical efficacy and prognostic factors of different salvage treatments were analyzed. OS was calculated by Kaplan-Meier method. Prognostic analysis was performed by using multivariate Cox regression model. Results The median interval of the first recurrence was 10.6(2.0 to 69.1) months. The median OS after recurrence was 8.0(0.8 to 43.3) months. The 1-, 2-and 3-year OS rates after recurrence were 36.0%, 15.1% and 5.2%, respectively. The median OS of patients with locoregional recurrence alone, distant metastasis alone and locoregional recurrence combined with distant metastasis was 11.3(1.8 to 43.3) months, 6.7(1.2 to 28.6) months and 5.1(0.8 to 22.9) months, respectively. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that neoadjuvant chemotherapy (P=0.009), ypTNM stage (P=0.012), comprehensive treatment after recurrence (P=0.000) and locoregional recurrence (P=0.026) were independently correlated with the OS of patients with recurrent esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Conclusions Neoadjuvant therapy, ypTNM stage, recurrence pattern and post-recurrence treatment are the independent risk factors for clinical prognosis of patients with recurrent esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after neoadjuvant therapy combined with surgery. Clinical prognosis of patients with recurrent esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after neoadjuvant therapy is not satisfactory. After recurrence, combined treatment mode should be adopted according to the site of recurrence and neoadjuvant treatment mode to maximize the benefits of salvage treatment. Key words: Esophageal neoplasm, recurrent/ neoadjuvant treatment; Locoregional recurrence; Distant metastasis; Prognosis