Key Points Question Is there any difference in the safety of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) followed by minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) compared with that of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (nCT) followed by MIE? Findings In this multicenter randomized clinical trial of 264 patients with ESCC, overall morbidity rates were 47% in the nCRT group and 43% in nCT group, which was not significantly different. Meaning This trial shows that the safety of nCRT followed by MIE is similar to that of nCT for the treatment of locally advanced ESCC.

OBJECTIVES Minimally invasive thoracic surgery has evolved with the introduction of robotic platforms. This study aimed to compare the long-term and short-term outcomes of the robot-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS) and video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) for anatomic lung resection. METHODS We searched published studies that investigated RATS and VATS in anatomic lung resection. Long-term outcomes (disease-free survival and overall survival) and short-term outcomes (30-day mortality, postoperative complications, conversion rate to open surgery and lymph node upstaging) were extracted. The features were compared and tested as hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) at a 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS Twenty-five studies with 50 404 patients (7135 for RATS and 43 269 for VATS) were included. The RATS group had a longer disease-free survival than the VATS group (HR: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.59–0.97; P = 0.03), and the overall survival showed a similar trend but was not statistically significant (HR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.57–1.05; P = 0.10). The RATS group showed a significantly lower 30-day mortality (OR: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.38–0.81; P = 0.002). No significant difference was found in postoperative complications (OR: 1.01; 95% CI: 0.87–1.16; P = 0.94), the conversion rate to open surgery (OR: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.56–1.52; P = 0.75) and lymph node upstaging (OR: 0.89; 95% CI: 0.52–1.54; P = 0.68). CONCLUSIONS RATS has comparable short-term outcomes and potential long-term survival benefits for anatomic lung resection compared with VATS.

SOL/MIP predominant pattern was predictive for ACT benefit for DFS among invasive lung adenocarcinoma patients in stage IB.