title: Surgical results of squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus in young patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus (ESCC) is one of the ten most common cancers in Taiwan. Surgical resection is the mainstay of the treatment. Young patients with ESCC are reported to have poor surgical outcome. This retrospective and comparative study is to evaluate the clinicopathologic difference and survival between young and elderly patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  From January 1985 to December 2000, totally 797 patients with esophageal cancer received esophagectomy with reconstruction at our institution. Among them, 12 patients who received neoadjuvant concurrent chemo-radiotherapy followed by esophagectomy were excluded from this study. The other 785 patients were divided into two groups. Group I included 67 patients aged 50 or younger (8.5%) and group II included 718 patients aged over 50 years (91.5%). The clinical data were collected by chart review and follow-up data were collected through outpatient department record or telephone contact. These two groups were analyzed and compared regarding sex ratio, exposure to tobacco or alcohol, surgical mortality rate and 5-year survival rate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no difference in gender distribution between young and old patients groups. More patients in the young patients group had the habits of alcohol and tobacco consumption than in the elder patients group. The surgical (30-day) mortality was 2.98% in the young patient group, and 5.43% in the elder group. The 5-year survival rate was better in young patients group than in elder patients group but there was no statistical significance. Survival in young patients group was significantly related to TNM staging system.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  More young patients with ESCC had the habit of smoking and drinking. There was no statistical difference between the groups in clinical variables, surgical mortality and survival. The survival rate was significantly related to the TNM tumor stage.
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Chien-Ho
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Han-Shui
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Liang-Shun
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hao-Wei
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yu-Chung
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Chih-Cheng
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Biing-Shiun
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Wen-Hu
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Min-Hsiung
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000601:surgery*; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D016629:Esophagectomy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged