ArticleBMJ open2023
Retrospective cohort study on treatment modalities and survival time after oesophageal fistula in patients with oesophageal cancer in a regional cancer care centre in China.
Article in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Treatment patterns and prognostic factors of radiation-associated esophageal fistula in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a retrospective cohort study.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Article
- Pathological complete response in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma complicated by malignant fistula via neoadjuvant immunotherapy, chemoradiotherapy, and nutritional support: a case report.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- A retrospective cohort study on radio/chemotherapy and survival following esophageal fistula in esophageal cancer patients with prior radiotherapy.BMC cancer · 2025Article
- Management and outcomes in a consecutive series of patients with aero-digestive fistula at a tertiary gastro-esophageal surgery center.Diseases of the esophagus : official journal of the International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOesophageal fistula (perforation) is a devastating complication in patients with oesophageal cancer . The optimal treatment remains uncertain.
objectiveWe sought to present real-world evidence on treatment modalities and survival postfistula in patients with oesophageal cancer. DESIGN, SETTINGS AND MAIN OUTCOMES: This was a retrospective cohort study of patients with oesophageal cancer with oesophageal fistulae diagnosed between June 2010 and June 2020 in a regional cancer care centre in Zhengzhou, China (n=352). The treatment options included surgical resection, oesophageal stent grafting, gastrostomy, nasogastric tube and conservative care. The primary outcome was survival time (months) postfistula. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) life regression was used to estimate the differences in survival time accounting for potential confounders.
resultsThe median survival time was 2.3 months (IQR: 0.7-6.0 months). Survival times were shorter in patients of male sex, T4 stage and oesophagotracheal versus oesophageal-mediastinal fistulae, and longer for any treatment option versus conservative care. The IPTW life regression analyses showed that in patients with oesophagotracheal fistulae, survival times were longer for stent grafting (+0.90 (95% CI 0.60 to 1.19) months) or gastrostomy (+0.81 (95% CI 0.47 to 1.13) months) versus nasogastric tube. In patients with oesophageal-mediastinal fistulae, survival times were shorter for stent grafting versus nasogastric tube (-0.36 (95% CI -0.63 to -0.09) months) and gastric tube (-0.29 (95% CI -0.50 to -0.08) months). Surgical resection was recorded in nine patients with oesophageal-mediastinal fistulae, and it was associated with the longest survival time in these patients.
conclusionsStent grafting or gastrostomy may be preferable to nasogastric tube in survival prognosis for patients with oesophageal cancer with oesophagotracheal fistulae. In contrast, stent grafting may be not preferable to nasogastric tube or gastrostomy in survival prognosis for patients with oesophageal-mediastinal fistulae.
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