The Short- and Long-term Outcomes of Esophagectomy for Esophageal Cancer in Patients Older than 75 Years

Background: The short- and long- term outcomes of esophagectomy for esophageal cancer were fully evaluated in patients older than 75 years of age. Patients and Methods: The present study selected patients who received esophagectomy for esophageal cancer. Patients were divided into non-elderly patients [age <75 years (non-elderly group)] and elderly patients [age >= 75 years (elderly group)]. The postoperative surgical morbidity, postoperative 30-days mortality, recurrence-free survival (RFS), and overall survival (OS) rates were evaluated between the non-elderly group and elderly group. Results: One hundred twenty-two patients were evaluated in this study. Ninety-eight patients and 24 patients were classified into the non-elderly group and elderly group, respectively. The postoperative surgical complication rates in the non-elderly and elderly groups were 71.4% and 75.0%. There was not a statistically significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.710). Mortality was observed in 1 patient in the elderly group (4.2%) due to cardiovascular disease. Significant differences were observed in the five-year OS and RFS rates of the elderly and non-elderly groups (55.4% vs. 29.7%, p = 0.0017 and 42.2% vs. 21.2%, p = 0.0334, respectively). Conclusion: Although the rate of postoperative surgical complications after esophagectomy for esophageal cancer was almost equal in the elderly and the non-elderly patients, significant differences were observed in the mortality and long-term outcomes of the two groups. Thus, the surgical strategy and perioperative care must be carefully planned for esophageal cancer patients older than 75 years of age.