• Thomas Boerner, Caitlin Harrington, Kay See Tan, Prasad S Adusumilli, Manjit S Bains, Matthew J Bott, Robert J Downey, James Huang, David H Ilson, James M Isbell, Yelena Y Janjigian, Bernard J Park, Gaetano Rocco, Valerie W Rusch, Smita Sihag, Abraham J Wu, David R Jones, and Daniela Molena.
• Thoracic Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY.
• Ann. Surg. 2023 May 1; 277 (5): 781788781-788.

ObjectiveTo assess postoperative morbidity, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) in patients treated with salvage esophagectomy (SE).Background DataA shift toward a "surgery as needed" approach for esophageal cancer has emerged, potentially resulting in delayed esophagectomy.MethodsWe identified patients with clinical stage I-III esophageal adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma who underwent chemoradiation followed by esophagectomy from 2001 to 2019. SE was defined as esophagectomy performed >90 days after chemoradiation ("for time") and esophagectomy performed for recurrence after curative-intent chemoradiation ("for recurrence"). The odds of postoperative serious complications were assessed by multivariable logistic regression. The relationship between SE and OS and DFS were quantified using Cox regression models.ResultsOf 1137 patients identified, 173 (15%) underwent SE. Of those, 61 (35%) underwent SE for recurrence, and 112 (65%) underwent SE for time. The odds of experiencing any serious complication [odds ratio, 2.10 (95% CI, 1.37-3.20); P =0.001] or serious pulmonary complication [odds ratio, 2.11 (95% CI, 1.31-3.42); P =0.002] were 2-fold higher for SE patients; SE patients had a 1.5-fold higher hazard of death [hazard ratio, 1.56 (95% CI, 1.25-1.94); P <0.0001] and postoperative recurrence [hazard ratio, 1.43 (95% CI, 1.16-1.77); P =0.001]. Five-year OS for nonsalvage esophagectomy was 45% [(95% CI, 41.6%-48.6%) versus 26.5% (95% CI, 20.2%-34.8%) for SE (log-rank P <0.001)]. Five-year OS for SE for time was 27.1% [(95% CI, 19.5%-37.5%) versus 25.2% (95% CI, 15.3%-41.5%) for SE for recurrence ( P =0.611)].ConclusionsSE is associated with a higher risk of serious postoperative complications and shorter DFS and OS.Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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