Outcome of Esophagectomy for Cancer in Elderly Patients

Background. This study analyzes the outcome of esophageal resection in patients 70 or more years of age, compared with patients aged less than 70 years and identifies risk factors for worse outcome in the elderly. Methods. Comorbidity, postoperative morbidity, in-hospital mortality and survival rates were compared between 811 patients aged less than 70 years and 250 patients aged 70 years or more who underwent esophagectomy for esophageal cancer in a single high-volume center from 1985 to 2005. Results. Groups were similar regarding surgical approach, resectability, and tumor stage. More patients aged 70 years or more had cardiovascular and respiratory concomitant disease. Among patients aged 70 years or more, the prevalence of adenocarcinoma and Barrett's transformation was higher (67% versus 53% for patients aged less than 70 years, and 22% versus 15%, respectively). There were no differences in surgical complications (20% versus 17%). Nonsurgical complications occurred more in patients aged 70 years or more (35% versus 27%) and operative mortality was higher among elderly patients (8.4 versus 3.8%), as was in-hospital mortality (11.6% versus 5.4%). The disease-specific 5-year survival was lower for patients aged 70 years or more (27% versus 34%). The 1-year survival, reflecting the impact of operative morbidity and mortality, was 58% for patients aged 70 years or more and 68% for the patients aged less than 70 years (p = 0.002). Among patients aged 70 years or more, respiratory comorbidity and thoracoabdominal resection were risk factors for the occurrence of nonsurgical complications and respiratory comorbidity for in-hospital mortality. Conclusions. Older patients have increased operative and in-hospital mortality and decreased 5-year survival after esophageal resection for cancer. Our results indicate that especially thoracoabdominal resection for esophageal carcinoma should be carefully considered for patients older than 70 years who suffer from respiratory disease

Treatment and outcome of young patients with esophageal cancer in the Netherlands

Background Esophageal cancer is increasingly recognized in younger patients. We compared clinicopathological characteristics, treatment, and survival of patients aged 50 years diagnosed with esophageal cancer in the Netherlands. Methods From the nationwide Netherlands Cancer Registry we identified all patients diagnosed with esophageal cancer between January 2000 and January 2011. Proportions were compared using the chi(2) test for categorical variables. Overall and relative survival was calculated. Results Eleven percent of the patients (n = 1,466) were aged 0.05. A subgroup analysis among patients diagnosed with adenocarcinoma revealed similar results. Conclusions Young patients with esophageal cancer present with more advanced disease stage and received more often treatment. However, they show comparable relative survival rates with their older counterparts. J. Surg. Oncol. 2014 109:???-???. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc