Objective To investigate the prognostic significance of the angiolymphatic invasion(ALI) in patients with esophageal squamous cancer(ESCC) who received radical resection.Methods A retrospective review was performed on 355 patients who underwent radical resection for ESCC in our hospital between June 2005 and December 2008.Clinicopathological features and overall survival rate were surveyed.Results Of all the patients included, these 46 ESCC patients with angiolymphatic(ALI group) invasion accounted for 13.3％.The 5-year overall survival rate was 20.3％ in patients of ALI group and 40.2％ in those of non-ALI group(P =0.001).The histological differentiation was poorer in the ALI group (P =0.008) as compared with non-ALI group.Univariate analysis showed that body mass index(BMI), ALI, T stage, N stage, and differentiation were associated with survival(P ＜ 0.05 for all).Multivariate analysis revealed that ALI, N stage, T stage and BMI were independent risk factors of prognosis.Conclusion This study highlights that ALI may facilitate the stratification of patients with a poor prognosis after radical resection for ESCC.

Objectives:To improve the surgical procedures and investigate the feasibility of the closed placement of nasojejunal tube during Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy. Methods:From January 2010 to December 2013, 85 patients (72 males and 13 females) with esophageal or gastric cardiac carcinoma underwent Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy in our department. Briefly, the general surgical proce-dures were performed as follows:1) stomach mobilization and enlargement of esophageal hiatus and pyloric sphincter digital fracture via laparotomy; 2) tubular stomach reconstruction, esophageal carcinoma resection, and intra-thoracic esophagogatrostomy via right posterolateral thoracotomy;and 3) forward closed placement of feeding tube through the nostrils and jejunum of patients under the guid-ance of a surgeon, who palpates the pylorus through the hiatus with the use of fingers. Results:No operative death or feeding tube-asso-ciated adverse event was observed. Among the 85 patients who have undergone Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy, feeding tube placement in-to the jejunum during surgery failed in 33 cases. The success rate of nasojejunal feeding tube placement was 61.2%(52/85). Twelve pa-tients with successful tube placement did not receive enteral feeding for several reasons and were thereby transferred to parenteral group. Significant differences were observed in terms of the nutritional cost and proportion between enteral feeding and parenteral groups (?1,469 ± 741 vs.?3,223 ± 917, P<0.001;3.4%vs. 7.2%, P<0.001). No differences in postoperative hospital stay and morbidi-ty were observed between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion:The novel forward closed placement of nasojejunal feeding tube dur-ing Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy provides a non-invasive, feasible, simple, and economical method for postoperative nutritional support. Surgeons could perform this novel technique successfully in practice.

AJCC Esophageal Cancer Staging System, 8^th edition will be implemented on January 1, 2018. The N staging in 8^th edition of staging system remains following 7^th edition based on the number of metastatic nodes, except the limited revision of the regional lymph node map. N staging revision was reviewed from the simple definition of negative (N0) and positive (N1) lymph node(s) to the positive node number based proposal (7^th edition). The 7^th edition staging system, especially the N staging, were proved with more advantages on distinguishing disease progression and predicting prognosis of the esophageal cancer. On other hand, the disadvantages of 7^th edition N staging are discussed. The refined N staging based on the number of metastatic node station is introduced. The extent and station of metastatic node could better reflect the disease progression and prognosis according to our research. The controversy on N staging of esophagogastric junction cancer is discussed as well. Other reported N staging associated index including lymph node ratio, lymphatic vessel invasion and biomarkers are reviewed and evaluated.

Objective To explore the application value of cone-shaped gastric tube combined with cervical end-to-end anastomosis in thoracoscopic and laparoscopic esophagectomy for esophageal cancer.Methods The retrospective and descriptive study was conducted.The clinical data of 122 patients with esophageal cancer who were admitted to West China Hospital of Sichuan University from December 2016 to December 2017 were collected.There were 89 males and 33 females,aged (61±8)years,with a range from 48 to 81 years.McKeowntype three-incision esophagectomy was performed,and the cone-shaped gastric tube was pulled up to esophagus in left neck for hand-sewn end-to-end anastomosis after the dissection of esophagus and stomach under total thoracoscopy and laparoscopy.Observation indicators:(1) surgical treatment situations;(2) postoperative complications;(3) follow-up.Follow-up using outpatient examination was performed to detect postoperative gastroesophageal reflux,anastomotic stenosis and evaluate anastomotic width at 1,3,6 months and one year postoperatively up to December 2018.Measurement data with normal distribution were represented by Mean±SD.Measurement data with skewed distribution were described by M (P25,P75) or M (range).Count data were expressed by absolute number.Results (1) Surgical treatment situations:122 patients underwent laparocopic McKeown-type three-incision esophagectomy successfully,using cone-shaped gastric tube combined with cervical hand-sewn end-to-end anastomosis as digestive tract reconstruction,with no intraoperative conversion to open surgery.The operation time,cervical anastomosis time,and volume of intraoperative blood loss were (229 ± 49) minutes,(27± 1) minutes,and 50 mL (40 mL,60 mL),respectively.There were 6-8 stations of lymph node dissected,and the number of lymph node dissected were 19 (15,25).Duration of postoperative hospital stay was 10 days (9 days,11 days) in the 122 patients.(2) Postoperative complications:31 of 122 patients had postoperative complications.The primary complications:3 patients with anastomotic fistula were cured by conservative treatment including enteral nutrition through placement of nutritional tube under gastroscope,closed thoracic drainage and anti-infection;6 cases with severe thoracic gastric dilation were cured after gastrointestinal decompression.The secondary complications of 22 patients included 8 cases with hoarseness caused by recurrent laryngeal never injury,5 with arrhythmia,9 with pulmonary infection.They were cured after symptomatic and supportive treatment.No chylothorax occured,and there was no perioperative death.(3) Follow-up:all the 122 patients were followed up for 10-24 months,with a median time of 19 months.During the follow-up,7 cases with anastomotic stenosis including 4 scoring less than grade 2 and 3 scoring more than grade 3 were relieved after dilation through gastroscope.There were 33 of 122 patients without any reflux symptoms,and 89 with reflux symptoms,among which 52 were scored 1,25 were scored 2 and 12 were scored 3.The width of gastroesophageal anastomosis measured by barium radiography at 1 month after operation was (1.2±0.4) cm.Conclusion Coneshaped gastric tube combined with cervical end-to-end anastomosis in digestive tract reconstruction of thoracoscopic and laparoscopic esophagectomy can reduce the incidence of postoperative anastomotic complications and thoracic gastric dilation,and nasogastric tube placement could be abandoned,which demonstrates good safety and universality.

In this review, development and application of the minimally invasive esophagectomy(MIE) for esophageal cancer are discussed including the types of MIE procedures, short- and long- term outcome after MIE; as well the future of MIE is forecasted. Main procedures of MIE performed currently include esophagectomy via thoracoscopy and laparoscopy and cervical esophagogastrosty, Ivor-Lewis MIE via thoracoscopy and laparoscopy, and hiatal MIE. Ivor-Lewis MIE gradually becomes a standard surgical option for the cancer of distal esophagus or esophagogastric junction while the solution of intrathoracic anastomosis via thoracoscopy has achieved. Several methods of intrathoracic anastomosis are reported such as hand-sewn, circular stapler, side-to-side and triangular anastomosis. MIE could decrease operative blood loss, shorten hospital stay and ICU stay, reduce postoperative especially pulmonary complications, and harvest more lymph nodes compared to open esophagectomy. The long-term survival has been proved similar with that after open esophagectomy for esophageal cancer. MIE has developed rapidly in recent years with some aspects in future prospectively: individual MIE treatment and quality of life, fast track after surgery, and robot-assisted MIE, as well the endoscopic submucosal dissection for esophageal cancer is mentioned.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the long-term survival outcomes of Siewert II adenocarcinoma of esophagogastric junction (AEG) between transthoracic (TT) approach and transabdominal (TA) approach. METHODS: The databases of Gastrointestinal Surgery Department and Thoracic Surgery Department in West China Hospital of Sichuan University from 2006 to 2014 were integrated. Patients of Siewert II AEG who underwent resection were retrospectively collected. INCLUSION CRITERIA: (1) adenocarcinoma confirmed by gastroscopy and biopsy; (2) tumor involvement in the esophagogastric junction line; (3) tumor locating from lower 5 cm to upper 5 cm of the esophagogastric junction line, and tumor center locating from upper 1 cm to lower 2 cm of esophagogastric junction line; (4)resection performed at thoracic surgery department or gastrointestinal surgery department; (5) complete follow-up data. Patients at thoracic surgery department received trans-left thoracic, trans-right thoracic, or transabdominothoracic approach; underwent lower esophagus resection plus proximal subtotal gastrectomy; selected two-field or three-field lymph node dissection; underwent digestive tract reconstruction with esophagus-remnant stomach or esophagus-tubular remnant stomach anastomosis above or below aortic arch using hand-sewn or stapler instrument to perform anastomosis. Patients at gastrointestinal surgery department received transabdominal(transhiatal approach), or transabdominothoracic approach; underwent total gastrectomy or proximal subtotal gastrectomy; selected D1, D2 or D2 lymph node dissection; underwent digestive tract reconstruction with esophagus-single tube jejunum or esophagus-jejunal pouch Roux-en-Y anastomosis, or esophagus-remnant stomach or esophagus-tubular remnant stomach anastomosis; completed all the anastomoses with stapler instruments. The follow-up ended in January 2018. The TNM stage system of the 8th edition UICC was used for esophageal cancer staging; survival table method was applied to calculate 3-year overall survival rate and 95% cofidence interval(CI); log-rank test was used to perform survival analysis; Cox regression was applied to analyze risk factors and calculate hazard ratio (HR) and 95%CI. RESULTS: A total of 443 cases of Siewert II AEG were enrolled, including 89 cases in TT group (with 3 cases of transabdominothoracic approach) and 354 cases in TA group. Median follow-up time was 50.0 months (quartiles:26.4-70.2). The baseline data in TT and TA groups were comparable, except the length of esophageal invasion [for length <3 cm, TA group had 354 cases(100%), TT group had 44 cases (49.4%), χ²=199.23,P<0.001]. The number of harvested lymph node in thoracic surgery department and gastrointestinal surgery department were 12.0(quartiles:9.0-17.0) and 24.0(quartiles:18.0-32.5) respectively with significant difference (Z=11.29,P<0.001). The 3-year overall survival rate of TA and TT groups was 69.2%(95%CI:64.1%-73.7%) and 55.8% (95%CI:44.8%-65.4%) respectively, which was not significantly different by log-rank test (P=0.059). However, the stage III subgroup analysis showed that the survival of TA group was better [the 3-year overall survival in TA group and TT group was 78.1%(95%CI:70.5-84.0) and 46.3%(95%CI:31.0-60.3) resepectively(P=0.001)]. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that the TT group had poor survival outcome (HR=2.45,95%CI:1.30-4.64, P=0.006). CONCLUSION The overall survival outcomes in the TA group are better, especially in stage III patients, which may be associated with the higher metastatic rate of abdominal lymph node and the more complete lymphadenectomy via TA approach.
Adenocarcinoma ; classification ; mortality ; pathology ; surgery ; China ; Databases, Factual ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; classification ; pathology ; surgery ; Esophagectomy ; methods ; Esophagogastric Junction ; pathology ; surgery ; Gastrectomy ; methods ; Humans ; Laparotomy ; Lymph Node Excision ; methods ; Neoplasm Staging ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms ; classification ; mortality ; pathology ; surgery ; Survival Analysis ; Thoracic Surgical Procedures