Abstract
BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate an unsettled issue that whether T4 esophageal cancer could benefit from surgery. METHODS: Patients with T4N0-3M0 esophageal cancer from 2004 to 2015 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database were included in this study. Kaplan-Meier method, Cox proportional hazard regression, and propensity score matching (PSM) were used to compare overall survival (OS) between the surgery and no-surgery group. RESULTS: A total of 1822 patients were analyzed. The multivariable Cox regression showed the HR (95% CI) for surgery vs. no surgery was 0.492 (0.427-0.567) (P < 0.001) in T4N0-3M0 cohort, 0.471 (0.354-0.627) (P < 0.001) in T4aN0-3M0 cohort, and 0.480 (0.335-0.689) (P < 0.001) in T4bN0-3M0 cohort. The HR (95% CI) for neoadjuvant therapy plus surgery vs. no surgery and surgery without neoadjuvant therapy vs. no surgery were 0.548 (0.461-0.650) (P < 0.001) and 0.464 (0.375-0.574) (P < 0.001), respectively. No significant OS difference was observed between neoadjuvant therapy plus surgery and surgery without neoadjuvant therapy: 0.966 (0.686-1.360) (P = 0.843). Subgroup analyses and PSM-adjusted analyses showed consistent results. CONCLUSION: Surgery might bring OS improvement for T4N0-3M0 esophageal cancer patients, no matter in T4a disease or in T4b disease. Surgery with and without neoadjuvant therapy might both achieve better OS than no surgery.