Long-term survival of patients with T1bN0M0 esophageal cancer after thoracoscopic esophagectomy using data from JCOG0502: a prospective multicenter trial

Background Thoracoscopic esophagectomy (TE) is considered the standard surgery for esophageal cancer because of its superiority over open esophagectomy (OE) in terms of short-term outcomes. However, few prospective multicenter studies have evaluated its long-term survival after TE. This study aimed to investigate whether the prognosis for patients with T1bN0M0 esophageal cancer after TE is not inferior to OE using data from the Japan Clinical Oncology Group Study (JCOG0502), a prospective multicenter trial comparing esophagectomy with chemoradiotherapy. Methods Data of patients in JCOG0502 after esophagectomy were used to compare the overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) after OE versus TE. OE or TE was selected at the surgeon’s discretion. A hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated via Cox proportional-hazards model. Results Of the 210 patients who underwent esophagectomy, 109 underwent OE, whereas 101 underwent TE. The 5-year OS was 88.9% after OE and 85.0% after TE. The hazard ratio of TE for OS was 1.53 (95% CI, 0.84–2.78; p = 0.16) and 1.10 (95% CI, 0.52–2.35; p = 0.80) in the univariable and multivariable analyses, respectively. The 5-year RFS was 85.3% after OE and 79.1% after TE. The hazard ratio of TE for RFS was 1.39 (95% CI, 0.81–2.38; p = 0.23) and 0.88 (95% CI, 0.44–1.74; p = 0.70) in the univariable and multivariable analyses, respectively. Conclusion The prognosis for patients with T1bN0M0 esophageal cancer after TE was not inferior to OE.