LAUSR

To investigate the association between endoscopic response evaluation of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) with pathological response and survival in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with the aid of a prospectively entered database. One hundred and eleven consecutive patients with ESCC who underwent radical esophagectomy after NAC were included. All patients were divided into two groups according to endoscopic response after NAC: endoscopic non-responders in whom NAC was poorly or moderately effective, and endoscopic responders in whom NAC was highly effective or completely effective. The clinical response after NAC was evaluated according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST). The pretreatment clinical stage was IB in 5 patients (5%), II in 18 (16%), III in 72 (65%), and IV in 16 (14%). All patients received two courses of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy consisted of docetaxel, cisplatin (CDDP), and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU; the DCF regimen) in 82 patients (74%), and 5-FU and CDDP (FP) in 29 (26%). All patients underwent radical esophagectomy with 2- or 3-field lymph node dissection. The postoperative mortality and morbidity rates were 0.9% and 26%, respectively. Pathological stage (ypStage) was 0 in 1 patient (1%), I in 16 (14%), II in 31 (28%), III in 48 (43%), and IV in 15 (13%). Twenty-two patients (20%) were pathological responders, and this group of patients had better overall survival than pathological non-responders (P = 0.02). Pathological response was significantly correlated with tumor depth (cT) (P < 0.01), protruding type of tumor (P = 0.01) before NAC, and clinical response (P < 0.01) and endoscopic response (P < 0.01) after NAC. Of these clinical factors, clinical response and endoscopic response were significantly correlated with prognosis. Endoscopic response after NAC can predict the pathological response and prognosis of patients who received NAC followed by surgery. Endoscopic findings are clinically significant to assess the response of NAC in patients with ESCC. All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.