Endoscopic ultrasonography and prognosis of esophageal cancer.
OBJECTIVE
Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) staging is used for management of esophageal cancer, but its effect on the outcome of patients is unknown. Our aim was to study the association of receipt of EUS and overall survival in a cohort of patients with esophageal cancer.


METHODS
All persons 65 years or older who were diagnosed with esophageal cancer between January 1994 and December 1999 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database were identified. Relevant demographic, cancer-specific information and EUS procedural information were extracted.


RESULTS
Two thousand eight hundred thirty patients with esophageal cancer (48% squamous cell cancer) were eligible for analysis. Only 303 (10.7%) patients underwent a EUS examination. Patients who had EUS evaluation were more likely to undergo esophageal resection (21.1% vs 14.7%, P = .01) and more likely to have received adjuvant therapy (11.2% vs 6.7%, P = .008). When adjusted for age at diagnosis, race, gender, comorbidity, histology, and tumor stage, receipt of EUS was associated with a reduced risk of death (relative hazard, 0.594; 95% confidence interval, 0.52-0.68; P = .001).


CONCLUSIONS
Undergoing EUS in patients with esophageal cancer is independently associated with improved survival, possibly because of improved stage-appropriate management such as use of adjuvant therapy and surgical resection.
Das
Ananya
A
Division of Gastroenterology, Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. das.ananya@mayo.edu
Chak
Amitabh
A
Sivak
Michael V
MV
Payes
Jonathan
J
Cooper
Gregory S
GS
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000401:mortality; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000401:mortality; D019160:Endosonography; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate