No abstract

No abstract

BACKGROUND The prognosis for oesophageal carcinoma is poor, but once distant metastases emerge the prognosis is considered hopeless. There is no consistent protocol for the early identification and aggressive management of metastases. AIM To examine the outcome of a policy of active postoperative surveillance with aggressive treatment of confirmed metastases. METHODS A prospectively maintained database of 205 patients diagnosed with oesophageal carcinoma between 1998 and 2019 and treated with curative intent was interrogated for patients with metastases, either at diagnosis or on follow-up surveillance and treated for cure. This cohort was compared with incomplete clinical responders to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) who subsequently underwent surgery on their primary tumour. Overall survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the log-rank test was used to compare survival differences between groups. RESULTS Of 205 patients, 11 (5.4%) had metastases treated for cure (82% male; median age 60 years; 9 adenocarcinoma and 2 squamous cell carcinomas). All had undergone neoadjuvant chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy, followed by surgery in all but 1 case. Of the 11 patients, 4 had metastatic disease at diagnosis, of whom 3 were successfully downstaged with nCRT before definitive surgery; 2 of these 4 also developed oligometastatic recurrence and were treated with curative intent. Following definitive treatment, 7 had treatment for metachronous oligometastatic disease; 5 of whom underwent metastasectomy (adrenal × 2; lung × 2; liver × 1). The median overall survival was 10.9 years [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.7-21.0 years], which was statistically significantly longer than incomplete clinical responders undergoing surgery on the primary tumour without metastatic intervention [ n = 62; median overall survival = 1.9 (95%CI: 1.1-2.7; P = 0.012]. The cumulative proportion surviving 1, 3, and 5 years was 100%, 91%, and 61%, respectively compared to 71%, 36%, and 25% for incomplete clinical responders undergoing surgery on the primary tumour who did not undergo treatment for metastatic disease. CONCLUSION Metastatic oesophageal cancer represents a unique challenge, but aggressive treatment can be rewarded with impressive survival data. In view of recent advances in targeted therapies, intensive follow-up may yield a greater number of patients with curative potential and thus improved long-term survival.

There is no accepted surveillance strategy following curative oesophageal cancer management, with reinvestigation often relying on symptom development. Lack of a surveillance standard may impact on outcome and survival. We hypothesized that strict surveillance was more likely to detect curable recurrent disease. This study compared the outcome for salvage surgery for recurrent disease, detected on a strict surveillance program, with survival of patients that had undergone immediate surgery following an incomplete response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. A prospective database of oesophageal carcinoma patients who were treated with curative intent (Surgery alone, Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy (NeoCR) plus surgery, Definitive Chemoradiotherapy or Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy with surveillance by choice), was interrogated for patients with recurrent disease amenable to salvage surgery. Surveillance for all consisted of 3-monthly endoscopy and 6-monthly CT scanning for 3 years, followed by 6-monthly endoscopy and yearly CT scanning to 5 years, and both yearly thereafter. If recurrence was diagnosed patients were restaged and, if suitable, underwent salvage surgery. Their outcome was compared with patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and having immediate surgery for an incomplete response. Of 205 patients treated with curative intent, 18 (9%) underwent salvage surgery for locoregional recurrence. They had a median survival of 61.6 months (range 10.32 to 136.08) and a 3-year survival of 50%. This compares to 115 patients who underwent surgery following incomplete response to NeoCR, who had a median survival of 38.3 months (range 2.20 to 254.26) and a 3 year survival of 44%, which was statistically insignificant between the groups (p= 0.975). The overall mean survivals were 57.84 months and 57.9 months respectively. Intensive surveillance identified a cohort of patients (9% of total) with recurrence amenable to salvage surgery and with outcomes non-inferior to immediate surgery following NeoCR. As most were asymptomatic, it is suggested that without surveillance the opportunity for curative intervention would have been lost. Even novel treatments will require detection of recurrence before disease becomes unmanageable. It is suggested that surveillance guidelines be updated to standardize interval endoscopy/imaging, as for other GI malignancies.