Patterns of Recurrence After Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Robot-assisted minimally invasive esophagectomy (RAMIE) has been proven to be a feasible surgical approach for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). This study aimed to investigate the recurrence pattern and potential risk factors after RAMIE. Consecutive patients with ESCC who received RAMIE with McKeown technique at a single Esophageal Cancer Institute from November 2015 to September 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients with available data, radical resection (R0), and a minimum 2-year follow-up period were eligible for the recurrence analysis. Risk factors of recurrence were examined by logistic regression analysis. R0 resection was achieved in 95.1% of patients (310/326). Of the 298 eligible patients with a median follow-up period of 30.6 months, recurrence was recognized in 95 patients (31.9%), with 4 (1.3%) local-only, 40 (13.4%) regional-only, 44 (14.8%) hematogenous-only and 7 (2.3%) combined recurrences. Cervical lymph nodes and lungs were the most frequent sites of regional and hematogenous recurrence, respectively. The median disease-free interval until recurrence was 12.1 (range 1.7-37.6) months and 83.2% of relapses occurred within 2 years after surgery. Multivariable analysis indicated that tumor in the upper esophagus, larger tumor length and positive lymph nodes as independent risk factors for recurrence. Hematogenous recurrence is the prevailing pattern after RAMIE for ESCC. For patients with advanced disease, neoadjuvant therapy is a key factor in reducing recurrence rather than surgical approaches.