Short-term clinical effects of robot-assisted esophagectomy with thoracic duct resection

[摘要] Background: Whether extended robot-assisted esophagectomy with thoracic duct resection (RAE-TDR) has a favorable effect on esophageal cancer patients is not yet known. This study sought to analyze the safety and efficiency of RAE-TDR. Methods: From January 2019 to July 2020, 73 thoracic duct (TD)-resected and 127 TD-preserved consecutive patients who received standard RAE McKeown surgery were enrolled in this study. The perioperative-related indicators of recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) at 1-year were compared between the 2 groups. Results: 0.05). The number of retrieved total lymph nodes (LNs) and mediastinal nodes were significantly higher in the TD-resected group than in the TD-preserved group (total lymph nodes: 29.0±11.1 vs. 25.1±8.5, P=0.006; mediastinal nodes: 19.5±8.0 vs. 16.1±5.5, P=0.002). Additionally, more metastatic TD-related LNs were harvested in cT3–4 patients (2.3±3.7 vs. 1.7±2.8; P=0.21). The rates of LN recurrence and local recurrence were similar between the 2 groups (LN recurrence: 6.8% vs.0.99; local recurrence: 1.4% vs.0.05). However, the rate of hematogenous metastasis in the TD-resected group was significantly elevated (17.8% vs. 7.9%; P=0.034). Conclusions: RAE-TDR may help to improve total and metastatic LN harvest, especially in patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) without increasing the intra- and post-operative adverse events. However, RAE-TDR did not lead to a decrease in the local recurrence rate within the short-term follow-up period. Whether the increase in distant metastasis rate in the TD-resected group was associated with relevant immune system damage is unclear. Thus, nonselective RAE-TDR is not routinely recommended.

[学科分类] 肿瘤学

[关键词] Esophageal cancer;robot-assisted esophagectomy;thoracic duct (TD)