The impact of thoracic duct resection on the long-term body composition of patients who underwent esophagectomy for esophageal cancer and survived without recurrence.

Background: We have reported the possible benefits of radical esophagectomy with thoracic duct (TD) resection in elective esophageal cancer surgery. However, the effect of TD resection on the long-term nutrition status remains unclear.

Methods: Patients who underwent esophagectomy at Keio University between January 2006 and December 2018 were included, and those who had no recurrence for more than three years were evaluated. Changes in each body composition (muscle mass and body fat) were comparatively assessed between those who underwent TD resection or not, before and at, one, three and five years after surgery. Computed tomography images were analyzed on postoperative year 1, 3 and 5.

Results: This study included 217 patients categorized in the TD-resected (TD-R) (156 patients) and TD-preserved (TD-P) (61 patients) groups. The loss of muscle mass was comparable between the groups. On the other hand, the loss of adipose tissues was significantly greater in the TD-R group than in the TD-P group at one and three years after surgery, while there was no statistical difference five years after surgery. Additionally, among patients with cT1N0M0 disease in whom survival advantage of TD resection has been reported previously, the loss of muscle mass did not differ between each group.

Conclusions: The change of muscle mass between the two groups was comparable. Although body fat mass was reduced by TD resection, it eventually recovered in the long term. In patients with esophageal cancer, TD resection may be acceptable without significant impact on body composition in the long term.