Long-term clinical outcome after endoscopic resection of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma invading the muscularis mucosae without lymphovascular invasion

Background and Aims Lymph node recurrence (LNR) after endoscopic resection (ER) in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) invading the muscularis mucosae (pMM) without lymphovascular invasion (LVI) has been reported as non-negligible in the ER guidelines for esophageal cancer by the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society. However, these data were not regarded as high-level evidence because several retrospective case series were tabulated without sufficient long-term follow-up. Hence, this guideline stated that the administration of additional treatment after ER could not be determined for this population. This study aimed to clarify the long-term clinical outcomes after ER of pMM ESCC without LVI. Methods Between January 2009 and November 2017, we enrolled followed-up patients who underwent ER and were pathologically diagnosed with pMM ESCC without LVI without additional treatments. We retrospectively investigated the cumulative recurrence rate and recurrence-free, overall, and disease-specific survival at 5 years after ER. Results Eighty-seven patients were enrolled. During the median follow-up period of 64 months (range: 12–117), 3 patients developed lymph node and/or distant recurrence, and 2 of these cases occurred more than 3 years after ER; all 3 patients died of the primary disease. The 5-year cumulative recurrence rate was 4.3%, and the 5-year recurrence-free, disease-specific, and overall survival rates were 88.8%, 98.2%, and 91.7%, respectively. Conclusions The long-term outcome for patients with pMM ESCC without LVI was favorable after ER; however, this population had a risk of recurrence directly leading to death. Long-term follow-up is necessary, with attention to the timing of recurrence.