Effect of Postoperative Chemotherapy on Prognosis of Postoperative Lymph Node-positive Thoracic Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients

Objective To analyze the effect of postoperative chemotherapy (POCT) on the prognosis of postoperative lymph node-positive thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (TESCC) patients.

Methods We retrospectively analyzed the prognostic factors for 419 lymph node-positive TESCC patients.

Results Compared with POCT group, the 1-, 3- and 5-year OS was significantly lower in patients with surgery alone(χ²= 12.802, P=0.000), while there was no significant difference in 1-, 3- or 5-year DFS (χ²=1.159, P=0.282). Multivariate analysis results showed that gender, age, location of lesion, TNM stage, POCT and chemotherapy cycles were the prognostic factors of OS (P < 0.05), and gender and N stage were the independent prognostic factors of DFS (P < 0.05). Hierarchical analysis results showed that POCT increased OS of male patients ≤60 years of age, lower thoracic lesions, lesions ≤5.0 cm and stage ⅢB, compared with surgery alone (P < 0.05), and also increased DFS of men ≤60 years of age (P < 0.05).

Conclusion The prognosis of postoperative lymph node-positive TESCC patients is poor, POCT could improve the prognosis of some patients.