SynthesisAnnals of surgical oncology2026
Neoadjuvant Chemoradiation Versus Chemotherapy for Esophageal Cancer: A Histology-Stratified Update Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Synthesis in Annals of surgical oncology, 2026. 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.
- ASO Author Reflections: Neoadjuvant Therapies for Esophageal Cancer-Where to Next?Annals of surgical oncology · 2026Article
- Neoadjuvant Therapy for Esophageal Cancer.Cancers · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe benefit of neoadjuvant radiation for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (AC) remains controversial. This study comprised a histology-stratified pooled analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing neoadjuvant chemoradiation (nCRT) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone (nCT) for esophageal cancer.
methodsA PRISMA 2020-compliant systematic review for RCTs comparing nCRT to nCT for esophageal cancer and a histology-stratified pooled random-effects meta-analyses were performed.
resultsNine RCTs published from 2009 to 2024 were included, comprising 2174 patients (1083 nCRT, 1091 nCT). Of these, 1125 patients had AC (51.7%) and 1049 had SCC (48.3%). Most patients received cisplatin with 5-fluorouracil. Patients with SCC undergoing nCRT were more often resected (odds ratio [OR] 1.94; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05-3.60; P=0.03) and more often had a pathologic complete response (OR 8.78; 95% CI 3.27-23.57; P<0.0001) than those undergoing nCT; R0 resection rates (OR 2.18; 95% CI 0.81-5.9; P=0.12) and anastomotic leaks (OR 0.91; 95% CI 0.55-1.49; P=0.70) were similar. For AC, nCRT was associated with similar resection rates (OR 0.90; 95% CI 0.49-1.64; P=0.72), similar pathologic complete response (OR 2.77; 95% CI 0.84-9.21; P=0.10), more R0 resections (OR 2.94; 95% CI 1.51-5.74; P=0.002), and similar leak rates (OR 1.10; 95% CI 0.71-1.70; P=0.67). nCRT was associated with fewer local recurrences for SCC (OR 0.58; 95% CI 0.40-0.86; P=0.006) but not AC (OR 1.04; 95% CI 0.70-1.53; P=0.86) (subgroup test P=0.04) and improved 3-year overall survival for SCC (OR 1.51; 95% CI 1.16-1.96; P=0.002) but not AC (OR 0.81; 95% CI 0.60-1.10; P=0.18) (subgroup test P=0.002).
conclusionsNeoadjuvant radiation appears to confer meaningful improvement in long-term outcomes for SCC but not AC.
Indexed as
Identifiers
41665785What 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.