Impact of clinicopathologic parameters on patient survival in carcinoma of the cervical esophagus

• Published in: The American journal of surgery Vol. 170; no. 5; pp. 427 - 431
• Main Authors: Kelley, Daniel J., Wolf, Ronald, Shaha, Ashok R., Spiro, Ronald H., Bains, Manjit S., Kraus, Dennis H., Shah, Jatin P.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01-11-1995; Elsevier; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; Carcinoma - drug therapy; Carcinoma - pathology; Carcinoma - radiotherapy; Carcinoma - surgery; Cervical carcinoma; Chemotherapy; Combined Modality Therapy; Deglutition; Deglutition Disorders - pathology; Dysphagia; Enteral Nutrition; Esophageal cancer; Esophageal carcinoma; Esophageal Neoplasms - drug therapy; Esophageal Neoplasms - pathology; Esophageal Neoplasms - radiotherapy; Esophageal Neoplasms - surgery; Esophagus; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Gastroenterology. Liver. Pancreas. Abdomen; Health services; Humans; Logistic Models; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; Neck - pathology; Neoplasm Invasiveness; Neoplasms, Second Primary - pathology; Neoplasms, Second Primary - surgery; Palliation; Palliative Care; Parameters; Patients; Postoperative Complications; Quality of Life; Radiation; Regression Analysis; Statistical analysis; Statistics; Survival; Survival Rate; Tumors; Human; Digestive diseases; Carcinoma; Malignant tumor; Survival; Esophagus
• ISSN: 0002-9610; 1879-1883
• DOI: 10.1016/S0002-9610(99)80322-5

Background: The survival of patients with carcinoma of the cervical esophagus remains poor in spite of multimodality treatment and technical improvements in surgical resection and reconstruction. This study was undertaken to update our experience with cervical esophageal carcinoma and to identify factors that had an impact on patient survival and quality of life.
Patients and methods: Clinical data encompassing 132 variables were collected on 67 patients with cervical esophageal carcinoma from 1980 to 1993. Statistical analysis was performed: independent Student's
t-tests, Cox regression, Kaplan-Meier curves, and log rank analyses were used in the statistical evaluation. The mean age of the patients was 63 years (range 31 to 88). Dysphagia was the primary symptom in 86% of patients; 80% had received no prior treatment. The most common abnormal finding (21%) on physical examination was a neck mass.
Results: Curative resection was performed in 22 patients, 7 had palliative procedures, and 7 were found to be inoperable at exploration and received palliative treatment. Radiation with or without chemotherapy was definitive treatment for 10 patients, whereas 4 patients were treated with chemotherapy alone for cure, and 17 patients received palliative treatment. The mean survival following diagnosis was 17 months (range 1 to 96). Cumulative 5-year survival was 12%.
Conclusions: Persistent disease, chemotherapy prior to presentation, and chemotherapy for cure remained as statistically significant parameters associated with decreased survival by multivariate analysis. There was a trend toward improved survival in patients treated with surgical resection.