title: [The advancement of cancer therapy by thoracoscopic approach for esophageal cancer].
abstract: The current status of thoracoscopic esophagectomy for esophageal cancer and the advancement of cancer therapy by the thoracoscopic approach are described. At first, in the introduction of this technique, many reports have indicated that postoperative complications of thoracoscopic esophagectomy do not decrease and have no benefit compared with right thoracotomy. However, this technique is able to effectively conserve respiratory function after esophagectomy. Moreover, postoperative respiratory morbidity can be decreased bases of series consisting a large number of patients. The thoracoscopic approach to esophageal cancer can show the detailed anatomy of the mediastinum and contribute to the improvement of safety at esophagectomy. The establishment of a training system is important to achieve the standardization of thoracoscopic esophagectomy in esophagectomy.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Harushi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Osugi
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takemura
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016629:Esophagectomy / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D013906:Thoracoscopy