Superficial esophageal carcinoma: Surgical treatment and the results

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Abstract
We report 92 patients treated with esophagectomy for superficial esophageal carcinoma (SEC; 9.1% of all resected esophageal cancers at our institution). the operative mortality rate was 5.4%. in 24 cases, cancer invasion was limited to the mucosa, and in 68 to the submucosa. Twenty-three patients in the former group had no lymph node involvement, whereas 24 patients (35.3%) of the latter group had lymph node metastases. the 5-year survival rate after surgery for patients with SEC limited to the mucosa was 83.5%, which was significantly better than that for carcinoma invading the submucosa (54.9%). No recurrent disease occurred in patients with lesions limited to the mucosa. in conclusion, an esophagectomy with wide lymphadenectomy is necessary to provide a better prognosis for SEC invading the submucosa, whereas a less extensive treatment may be considered for SEC limited to the mucosa.