Short-term clinical effects of robot-assisted esophagectomy with thoracic duct resection

Abstract

Background: Whether extended robot-assisted esophagectomy with thoracic duct resection (RAE-TDR) has a favorable effect on esophageal cancer patients is not yet known. This study sought to analyze the safety and efficiency of RAE-TDR. Methods: From January 2019 to July 2020, 73 thoracic duct (TD)-resected and 127 TD-preserved consecutive patients who received standard RAE McKeown surgery were enrolled in this study. The perioperative-related indicators of recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) at 1-year were compared between the 2 groups. Results: 7.9%; P=0.034). Conclusions: RAE-TDR may help to improve total and metastatic LN harvest, especially in patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) without increasing the intra- and post-operative adverse events. However, RAE-TDR did not lead to a decrease in the local recurrence rate within the short-term follow-up period. Whether the increase in distant metastasis rate in the TD-resected group was associated with relevant immune system damage is unclear. Thus, nonselective RAE-TDR is not routinely recommended.