ArticleAnnals of surgical oncology2025
Prognosis of Robot-Assisted Esophagectomy with Thoracic Duct Resection in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
Article in Annals of surgical oncology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Revisiting Thoracic Duct Resection in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Propensity-Matched Analysis and Immunologic Insight Into Recurrence Risk.Thoracic cancer · 2026Article
- Advances in Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy-An Overview of Recent Developments and a Novel Classification of Innovations in Treatment of Thoracic Esophageal Cancer.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe authors' previous study found no significant difference in short-term clinical outcomes between patients undergoing robot-assisted esophagectomy (RAE) with or without thoracic duct resection (TDR). However, the impact of RAE-TDR on long-term prognosis remains unclear.
methodsFrom January 2019 to July 2020, the study prospectively and consecutively enrolled 127 thoracic duct (TD)-preserved and 73 TD-resected patients who underwent standard McKeown RAE surgery. The overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were compared between these two groups.
resultsDuring a median follow-up period of 48.6 months, the 3-year OS rates were 70.6% and 70.9% in the TD-preserved and TD-resected group, and the 3-year RFS rates were 61.9% and 55.5%, respectively. The TD-preserved and TD-resected groups did not differ significantly in local-regional (12.6% vs. 15.1%; p = 0.623), distant (23.6% vs. 28.8%; p = 0.422), or mixed (2.4% vs. 4.1%; p = 0.670) recurrence. However, among the eight (11%) patients with TD lymph node (LN) metastasis in the TD-resected group, six patients experienced recurrences (1 local-regional and 5 distant). The patients who had thoracic duct lymph node (TDLN) metastasis experienced significantly worse RFS than those who did not (p = 0.04). Additionally, TDLN metastasis was significantly associated with advanced nodal stage (cN2-3, 6/8; p = 0.001) and bulky tumors (pT3, 7/8; p = 0.028).
conclusionIn ESCC, RAE-TDR does not improve recurrence or survival outcomes. However, identification of TDLN metastasis through TDR carries significant prognostic implications considering its strong association with aggressive tumor biology and inferior oncologic outcomes. Therefore, TDR should not be routinely performed, but its selective application for patients with advanced tumors may provide critical staging information to guide tailored postoperative strategies.
Indexed as
Identifiers
40307517What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.