title: [Clinical outcomes of thoracoscopic esophagectomy after neoadjuvant chemotherapy].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  With recent advances in multimodal therapy for esophageal cancer, neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) followed by surgery has become the standard treatment for advanced resectable esophageal cancer. This study analyzed the feasibility and clinical outcomes of thoracoscopic esophagectomy (TE) after NAC.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively analyzed 129 patients who underwent TE with radical mediastinal lymph node dissection between January 2005 and December 2012. Of these patients, 54 received NAC( NAC+group) and 75 did not( NAC-group).The perioperative clinical outcomes, number of dissected nodes, and postoperative mortality were compared between the 2 groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The operation time in the NAC+group was significantly longer than that in the NAC-group( p<0.01).However, the estimated blood loss was significantly less in the NAC+group( p<0.01).There was no significant difference in the number of dissected nodes and the frequency of postoperative complications between the 2 groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TE can be safely adopted for the treatment of patients with advanced esophageal cancer after NAC.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery, Hyogo College of Medicine.
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takemura
authors.forename: Nobuaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kaibe
authors.forename: Hidetaka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Mamiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takii
authors.forename: Takaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hori
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oshima
authors.forename: Syojirou
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
authors.forename: Mitsuru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sasako
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery*; D016629:Esophagectomy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013906:Thoracoscopy; D016896:Treatment Outcome