The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Vol 89, 71-76, Copyright © 1985 by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery and The Western Thoracic Surgical Association
Resectional operations and long-term results in carcinoma of the esophagus
P Gatzinsky, E Berglin, L Dernevik, I Larsson and G William-Olsson
The 5 year survival rate after resectional operations for carcinoma of the
esophagus is still very low. Many factors have been identified as
contributing to these poor long-term results. The main factor found in this
study, comprising 102 patients undergoing resection out of 125 patients
operated upon during a 10 year period, was nonradical resection. The main
cause of nonradical resection was invasion of the tumor into the
mediastinum, which was observed in 80% of the patients. In 43 of the 102
patients undergoing resection, the penetration of the carcinoma into the
tissue surrounding the esophagus was observed only histologically.
Thirty-three of the 38 hospital survivors in this group died within 2 years
of the operation of recurrence of carcinoma. Fourteen of 17 survivors after
resectional operations in whom the tumor growth was still limited to the
esophagus were alive from 2 to 9 years (mean 6 years) after the operation,
without evidence of recurrence.
