Objective: To study survival, morbidity, and ability to swallow, after oesophagectomy for cancer of the oesophagus and cardia.
Design: Prospective open study.
Setting: University hospital, Norway.
Subjects: 83 patients, 38 with squamous cell carcinoma and 45 with adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus and cardia.
Interventions: Transhiatal (n = 51) and transthoracic (n = 32) oesophagectomy. Oesophageal replacement was by either stomach (n = 80) or colon (n = 3). Cervical anastomosis was used in all but 2.
Main outcome measures: Early and late morbidity and mortality, length of stay in intensive care unit and in hospital, and survival analysis.
Results: 30 Day and in hospital mortality were 0 and 4% for transhiatal, and 6% and 9% for transthoracic, oesophagectomy. Complications included recurrent nerve palsy (n = 7), anastomotic leaks (n = 5), and chylothorax (n = 4). 17 Patients (22%) needed dilatations for stenosis of the anastomosis, and 71 (85%) of the patients left hospital within four weeks of operation. Survival analysis showed a 5 year survival rate of 33% for patients with adenocarcinoma operated on for cure and a 2 year survival of 28% for patients with squamous cell carcinoma.
Conclusions: Oesophagectomy for cure is worthwhile as some patients are cured and most of the remainder have prolonged relief of their dysphagia. Palliative resections should not be done in patients with distant metastases or invasion of adjacent organs by the tumour because of long stay in hospital, appreciable morbidity, and short life expectancy.