A group led by Prof. Ke Yang of Peking University Cancer Hospital released real-world evidence evaluating outcomes of minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) compared with open esophagectomy (OE) in localized esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients. The study, titled “Minimally Invasive or Open Esophagectomy for Treatment of Resectable Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma? Answer from a Real-World Multicenter Study”, appeared online on November 11 in Annals of Surgery, one of the top journals in the field.

　　The multi-site study adopted a real-world cohort design, and conducted a 10-year follow-up in nearly 6000 ESCC patients recruited from two typical high-volume centers in southern and northern China who had undergone either MIE or OE. By analyzing long-term and short-term indicators such as overall survival, postoperative complications and 30/90-day mortality, the study offered high-level evidence on the efficacy and safety of MIE compared with OE in treating ESCC patients.

　　Figure 1. The crude (left) and overlap weighted (right) Kaplan-Meier survival curves after esophagectomy according to type of surgery.

　　In addition, the study suggested that MIE could be used as a preferred procedure even for large ESCC tumors (≥ 6 cm). This finding may expand the indicated population for MIE and facilitate the updating of National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines.

　　The report’s first authors include Associate Fellow Liu Fangfang and Dr. Yang Wenlei from Prof. Ke’s group, as well as their main collaborators from Anyang Cancer Hospital and Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College. Prof. Ke and Fellow He Zhonghu served as the corresponding authors.

　　Written by: Fan Xiaofei

　　Edited by: Liu Xin

　　Source: Peking University Cancer Hospital