Purpose: Our intent was to compare survival following neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery versus chemoradiotherapy (CRT) among patients with potentially resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
Methods: Information about 406 consecutive esophageal cancer patients with resectable disease who underwent surgery with neoadjuvant chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin plus 5-fluorouracil or who underwent definitive CRT was reviewed. The survival outcomes were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and propensity score-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models. Relevant variables were included in the propensity score model.
Results: Overall, 206 patients planned to undergo surgery (S group) and 200 patients planned to undergo CRT (CRT group). In the unadjusted situation, progression-free survival and overall survival did not differ statistically between the groups. After matching, both survival outcomes were better in the S group compared to the CRT group. Subanalysis showed both survival outcomes were better in the S group for patients with only stage III disease. However, survival outcomes for stages I, II, and IV were not significantly different between treatment groups.
Conclusions: Among patients with resectable disease, survival outcomes in the S group were favored over those of the CRT group. These results indicate that different therapeutic strategies should be used for stage III esophageal cancer than for other stages.
Keywords: Chemoradiotherapy; Esophageal cancer; Neoadjuvant chemotherapy; Propensity score analysis; Surgery.