Abstract: Esophageal carcinoma is a common worldwide malignancy for which the major treatment method is surgery, and there are various kinds of surgical procedures: (1) esophagectomy via right thoracic, abdominal and cervical approaches; (2) esophagectomy via left thoracic approach with anastomosis upon or under aortic arch； (3) esophagectomy via left thoracic approach with cervical anastomosis； (4) Ivor-Lewis； (5) esophageal pull-out via abdominal and cervical approaches with cervical anastomosis； (6) esophagectomy aided by videoassisted thoracoscope； (7) esophagectomy with jejunum or colon substitution. In this review, the current surgical treatments for esophageal carcinoma, perioperative management and novel surgical technique applications are summarized. Besides, the future of esophageal surgery is predicted including minimally invasive surgery, the improving standard of lymph node dissection, neoadjuvant therapy application, postoperative life quality and prospective artificial esophagus. Meanwhile, the remaining problems are discussed.
Objective To investigate an evaluation method of medical literature applicability to clinical work， and provide a convenient way for physicians to search for the best evidence. Methods Delphi method was used to choose appropriate evaluating indexes， analytic hierarchy process was performed to determine the weighing of each index， and the formula to calculate medical literature applicability was formed. The practicability of this formula was evaluated by consistency checking between the formula’s results and experts’ opinions on literature applicability. Results Five evaluating indexes were determined， including literature’s publishing year （X1）， whether the target questions were covered （X2）, sample size （X3）， trial category （X4）， and journal level （X5）. The formula to calculate medical literature applicability was Y=3.93 X1＋11.78 X2＋14.83 X3＋44.53 X4＋24.93 X5. The result of consistency checking showed that the formula’s results were highly consistent with experts’ opinions （Kappa=0.75， P＜0.001）. Conclusion The applicability formula is a valuable tool to evaluate medical literature applicability.
The optimal treatment of stage ⅢA-N2 non-small cell lung cancer （NSCLC） remains controversial. Resultsof primary surgery alone are not satisfied. Surgery after induction chemotherapy yields better outcomes compared to resectiononly which has been widely accepted. Randomized studies show induction chemotherapy followed by either radiotherapy or surgery have approximately equivalent survival outcomes，significant improved survival can be achieved by combined surgery in selected patients. Low-grade N2，effective response and mediastinal downstaging after induction therapy，and successful complete resection by lobectomy，are good indications of surgery. Ideal treatments are approached base on theheterogeneity of N2 . Patients with bulky or fixed N2 disease should be considered for radical chemo-radiotherapy，and surgeryshould be a part of multi-modality management for patients with non-fixed，non-bulky，single-zone N2 disease. Further randomized trials of surgery added to multi-modality management in patients with multi-zone N2 disease should be taken in order to establish possible subgroups of patients might be benefitted more from the addition of surgery.
Abstract： Objective To investigate prognosis factors of primary small cell carcinoma of the esophagus （PSCCE）, and to optimize the treatment strategy of PSCCE. Method We retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 15 patients （13 males and 2 females with an age of 57.7±2.3 years） with middle thoracic PSCCE in West China Hospital from June 2005 to February 2010. We searched ISI and MEDLINE from April 2001 to February 2010 to extract clinical data of 139 PSCCE patients with 94 males and 45 females with an age of 63.3±10.7 years. We analyzed prognosis factors of the 139 patients including gender, age, tumor location, pathological type, lesions stage and treatment strategy by Kaplan-Meier. Difference in survival curves between limited disease patients and extended disease patients was tested by log-rank test. Results Among the 15 patients, 14 patients had limited disease, and 1 patient had extended disease. Their data were not included in survival analysis because the follow-up was incomplete. Among the 139 patients, 88 patients had limited disease with their 2-year survival rate of 31.8% （28/88）. Fifty-one patients had extended disease with their 2-year survival rate of 7.8% （4/51）. The 2-year survival rate between limited-disease patients and extended-disease patients was statistically different（P＜0.05）. Radiation therapy in combination with chemotherapy had significant influence on the survival rate of patients with either local lesions or advanced lesions（P＜ 0.05）, while other factors such as gender, age and tumor location had no significant influence on their survival rate（P＞0.05）. Conclusion Chemotherapy is the fundamental treatment of PSCCE, which plays an important role in reducing PSCCE preoperative staging and restraining PSCCE postoperative recurrence and metastasis. Surgery and radiation therapy are effective for patients with local lesions. Local treatment in combination with chemotherapy is effective for patients with limited disease. Radiation therapy in combination with chemotherapy is the standard therapy for patients with extended lesions,