The impact of prophylactic administration of a neutrophil elastase inhibitor on the postoperative course in older patients undergoing esophagectomy for esophageal cancer: a propensity score-matched analysis

Pathological Regression of Lymph Nodes Better Predicts Long-term Survival in Esophageal Cancer Patients Undergoing Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Followed by Surgery

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate pathological response to NAC in metastatic LNs, and assess its clinical prognostic significance in patients with EC.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA

The pathological response to preoperative treatment is commonly evaluated in the PT. However, LN metastases strongly correlate with systemic micro-metastases. Thus, pathological evaluation of LN response could more accurately predict prognosis in EC patients undergoing NAC before surgery.

METHODS

We enrolled 371 consecutive patients who underwent triplet NAC followed by surgery for EC between January 2010 and December 2016. Pathological LN regression grade was defined by the proportion of viable tumor area within the whole tumor bed area for all metastatic LNs: grade I, >50%; II, 10%-50%; III, <10%; and IV, 0%. We analyzed the correlation of grade with clinico-pathological parameters.

RESULTS

Among 319 patients with clinically positive LNs, pathological LN regression grades were I/II/III/IV in 115/51/58/95 patients, and 191 patients (59.9%) showed discordance between the PT and LN pathological regression grades. LN regression grade significantly correlated with cN positive number, ypTNM, lymphovascular invasion, and clinical/pathological PT response. Multivariate analysis for recurrence-free survival revealed that LN regression grade [hazard ratio (HR) = 2.25, P < 0.001], ypT (HR = 1.65, P = 0.005), and ypT (HR = 1.62, P = 0.004) were independent prognostic factors, but not pathological PT regression grade (P = 0.67).

CONCLUSIONS

Compared to PT response, pathological LN response better predicted long-term survival in EC patients who received NAC plus curative surgery.

Peritumoral Lymphatic Vessels Associated with Resistance to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and Unfavorable Survival in Esophageal Cancer

BACKGROUND

Peri- or intra-tumor lymphangiogenesis is induced in several types of cancer. However, the significance of peritumoral lymphatic vessels (LVs) in esophageal cancer (EC) remains to be clarified.

METHODS

This study included 162 eligible EC patients with or without neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). The numbers of non-tumoral and peritumoral LVs were counted in resected specimens based on podoplanin immunostaining. The association between peritumoral LV number and clinicopathologic parameters, including tumor heterogeneity as measured by positron emission tomography, NAC response, and patient survival were analyzed.

RESULTS

In non-NAC patients, the number of peritumoral LVs was highest in the lamina propria mucosa (LPM), followed by non-tumoral LVs in the LPM, peritumoral LVs in the submucosa (SM), and non-tumoral LVs in the SM. The patients with a low number of peritumoral LVs in the LPM versus those with a high number constituted a larger fraction of the NAC patients (67.8% vs. 50.0%; P = 0.022) and had a poorer pathologic response to NAC (grades 0-1a: 68.8% vs. 47.2%; P = 0.035), as well as greater tumor heterogeneity and worse survival (5-year overall survival: 50.6% vs. 72.8%; P = 0.0097). The number of peritumoral LVs in the LPM was identified as an independent prognostic factor with the highest hazard ratio (HR) of overall survival (HR 2.06; P = 0.0049) in the multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSION

For EC patients, peritumoral LVs in the LPM layer are associated with tumor heterogeneity, response to NAC, and unfavorable survival.