Textbook outcome contributes to long-term prognosis in elderly patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Textbook outcome (TO) is a composite quality measurement of outcomes for evaluating surgical procedures. We investigated whether TO can be used to predict outcomes after curative resection for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in elderly patients.

We retrospectively analyzed 105 patients who underwent curative esophagectomy for ESCC from 2005 to 2020. In accordance with previous reports, TO consisted of 10 parameters. The patients were divided into two groups: those who achieved TO (TO) and those who failed to achieve TO (non-TO). We evaluated the association between TO and long-term survival.

TO was achieved in 28 (26%) patients. The patients in the TO group were significantly older (p = 0.02). The parameter with the lowest achievement rate was "No hospital stay ≥21 days". The patients in non-TO group had significantly shorter overall survival than those in TO group (p = 0.03). Multivariable Cox regression analyses of overall survival revealed that lymph node metastasis (hazard ratio [HR], 3.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.73-6.78; p < 0.0002) and non-TO (HR, 2.37; 95% CI, 1.05-5.65; p = 0.03) were significantly associated with poor overall survival.

TO can be used to predict outcomes after curative esophagectomy in elderly patients with ESCC.