Surgical Treatment of Carcinoma of the, Cardial and Inferior Thoracic Esophagus in Stage III and IV: Results of a Series of 146 Cases

Abstract

146 patients with carcinoma of the cardial and inferior thoracic esophagus in stage III and IV treated with resective and nonresective palliative surgery have been reviewed. The average survival after resective surgery was 16 months for stage-111 and 9 months for stage-IV patients, whereas the median survival time after nonresective surgery amounted to 6.5 months for stage-III and 3.1 months for stage-IV patients. The mean survival did not vary significantly according to tumor grade (15.1 and 14.2 months), but was 14.3 months with positive node involvement and 23.5 months with negative node involvement. If the general condition and age of the patients permit it, these results allow a resective procedure in stage-III lesions, where negative node involvement in 28.5% seems to confirm a good prognosis. Tumor grade did not seem to modify the survival and was not correlated to the stage of the disease.