Adjuvant therapy for pathological T3N0M0 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Tumors invading the depth of adventitia (T3) are the most common pathological type of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). For patients without lymph nodes metastasis, the role of adjuvant therapy is uncertain. This study was intended to retrospectively analyze the survival effects of postoperative adjuvant therapy in such patients.

A total of 200 patients with pathological T3N0M0 (pT3N0M0) ESCC from January 2012 to September 2014 were enrolled, including a surgery-alone group (Group S) of 111 patients and a surgery followed with adjuvant chemo/radiation/chemoradiation therapy group (Group S + aCRT) of 89 patients.

There was no significant difference in preoperative basic characteristics and postoperative complications between the two groups. Among all patients, 5-year overall survival (OS) rate was 56.6% and the 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate was 51.1%, respectively. The 5-year OS rate was 47.2% in Group S, and 68.4% in Group S + aCRT (P=0.004). The 5-year DFS rate was 44.4% in Group S and 59.3% in Group S + aCRT (P=0.036). The 5-year OS and DFS were improved by adjuvant chemoradiotherapy in the subgroups of males, tumor located at the middle of thoracic esophagus, moderate differentiation, number of resected lymph nodes <15. Multivariate analysis showed that adjuvant chemoradiotherapy and female were associated with improved survival.

In our study, the adjuvant therapy was associated with improved survival for patients with pT3N0M0 ESCC.