Abstract:
Objective: To study the effect of postoperative adjuvant therapy in stage-T 3N1M0 esophageal cancer patients. Methods:Data from 196 esophageal cancer patients who had undergone surgery in Tianjin Cancer Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Of these patients, simple radical correction was conducted in 86 (group S), surgery plus postoperative adjuvant therapy occurred in 52 (group S + C), and surgery combined with radiotherapy was done in 49 (group S + R). Data from 9 patients who accepted sequential chemo-radiotherapy were not included in the statistical analysis because of the small number of cases. Prognoses of the three groups were compared. Analysis of data was conducted using SPSS 15.0 statistical software. The t test was used for obtaining numerical variables and chi-square test for the inter-group comparison. Kaplan-Meier method and Log rank test were used for calculating the survival rates. Results: One-year survival rates were 61.6% ,63.5% and 83.7% in the group S, group S + C and group S + R (P=0.022 ), respectively. The 3-year survival rates were 34.9% ,34.6% and 55.1% (P=0.045 ), respectively. The 5-year survival rates were 12.8% ,15.4% and 34.7% (P=0.006 ). For the three groups, the disease-free survival rates were 10.5% ,11.5% and 28.6% , respectively (P= 0.003 ). The rates of supraclavicular lymph metastasis were 20.9% ,23.1% and 6.1% (P=0.030 ), respectively, and the rates of endothoracic nodal metastasis were 31.4%,25.0% and 16.3% (P=0.155 ). The hematogenous metastasis rates were24.4% ,21.2% and 22.4% , respectively (P=0.902 ). The local recurrence rates of the anastomotic stoma were 4.7, 0 and 2.0 (P=0.247 ), and the rates of anastomotic stoma stenosis were 4.7, 5.8 and 6.1 % in the three groups, respectively (P=0.924 ). The prognosis of patients was influenced by the histological grade, which was poorer in the male patients than in the female patients. Conclusion : Radiotherapy can increase the survival rate of T3N1M0 esophageal cancer patients and can decrease the rate of regional lymph node metastasis. However, it cannot decrease the hematogenous metastasis rate. Postoperative chemotherapy (PF regimen, i.e. PDD+5FU) has little effect on prognosis of the patients. A new regimen must be developed and implemented that addresses these issues.