A propensity-score matching analysis comparing long-term survival of surgery alone and postoperative treatment for patients in node positive or stage III esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after R0 esophagectomy

Background Surveillance was recommended for patients after R0 esophagectomy by National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines. However, local failure was high in locally advanced patients (48–78%). The present study aimed to determine whether adjuvant treatment improved survival for stage IIb-III thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (TESCC). Methods A retrospective review of patients diagnosed as esophageal carcinoma at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Cancer hospital, between January 2004 and December 2011, was performed. A database compiling 975 patents with node positive or stage III thoracic esophageal carcinoma after R0 surgery with or without postoperative radiation/chemoradiation was created. A 1:1 matched study group was generated by the Greedy method after propensity score matching (PSM) analysis. Survival curves were calculated by the Kaplan–Meier method and compared with the log-rank test. Univariate and multivariate analyses were using the Cox proportional hazards regression model. Results 975 patients were enrolled in the study, 510 patients (52.3%) did not receive any postoperative treatment after R0 surgery and 465 patients had either postoperative chemoradiation or radiotherapy. Median follow-up was 69.2 months. After PSM, 222 well-balanced patients in each group demonstrated the same results. The 3-year, 5-year survival rates and median survival in surgery group (33.0%, 26.4%, 24.3 months) were inferior to those in postoperative treatment group (48.3%, 37.1% and 34.3 months), (P = 0.002). Compared with radiotherapy, postoperative chemoradiation did not improve DFS and OS (P = 0.692; P = 0.368). N stage and adjuvant treatment are independent prognostic factors. Conclusions Adjuvant treatment could improve survival for patients with stage IIb-III TESCC.