Nodal Clearance as a Predictor of Oncologic Outcomes in Esophageal and Gastroesophageal Junction Malignancies Receiving Trimodality Therapy

While pCR is a known prognostic factor in E/GEJ regardless of nodal status, in the high-risk subset of N+ E/GEJ patients, nodal clearance was associated with significantly improved OS and PFS regardless of primary tumor response. This is a novel observation and warrants similar hypothesis testing in other data sets and may have implications for therapy in node positive patients.