Clinical outcome of cervical esophageal cancer treated with laryngectomy

—The roles of head and neck surgery

Abstract

Cervical esophageal cancer is a rare disease that accounts for approximately 5% of all esophageal cancers. Since laryngectomy is necessary in cases of head-side extension and cervical lymph node metastasis is common due to the anatomical site, cooperation between head and neck surgery and esophageal surgery is essential. In our hospital, head and neck surgery is in charge of neck operations when laryngectomy and neck dissection are required. We performed a retrospective study of 25 cases of cervical esophageal cancer operated on at Nagoya City University Hospital from 2017 to 2022, of which 15 cases were operated jointly with our department. The median age was 69 years; 12 were male and 3 were female. All patients had squamous cell carcinoma, and the clinical stage was stage Ⅰ in 2 cases, stage Ⅱ in 5 cases, stage Ⅲ in 7 cases, and stage Ⅳa in 1 case. In seven of the 15 cases removal of the cancer was possible only by neck surgery. Among all cases, the two-year overall survival rate was 33.3%, and the two-year disease-free survival rate was also 33.3%. Local recurrence was observed in 7 patients and distant metastasis in 3. Postoperative complications were observed in 9 patients, including tracheal necrosis in one patient, which required treatment. Cooperation between esophageal and head and neck surgery is important in the treatment of cervical esophageal cancer.