Development of surgery for carcinoma of the esophagus

During the period from October 1972 to January 1983, 462 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus were admitted to Toranomon Hospital. Those patients with carcinoma of the hypopharynx, cervical esophagus, or cardia extending to the esophagus were excluded from the study. Resection and reconstruction were carried out in 295 patients with a resectability rate of 63.9 percent and an operative mortality rate of 1.7 percent. The 5 year survival rate for 101 patients who had resection with minimum 5 year follow-up was 34.7 percent. Although the ultimate outcome is largely influenced by the tumor type representing malignancy, it is worthwhile to make all efforts to resect the tumor with a negative surgical margin and to resect concomitant lesions if there are any. Surgeons should not be discouraged by the length or size of a tumor. The extent of positive lymph node is closely related to long-term results. However, systemic lymph node dissection should be carried out because 5 year survival can then be expected, even when positive nodes are dissected from various areas.