title: Postoperative surveillance and prognostic factors in patients with esophageal cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Here we investigated postoperative prognostic factors and surveillance in patients with esophageal cancer. METHODOLOGY Prognostic factors were evaluated at several different postoperative stages in 257 patients with curative (R0) esophagectomy. Cause of death and pattern of tumor recurrence were also analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significant difference in the distribution of cause of death according to the time after surgery (p<0.001). The pattern of recurrence also differed according to the time after surgery, although this was not statistically significant. A Cox proportional regression hazard model for disease-specific survival revealed that Tumor-Node-Metastasis (TNM) stage was an independent prognostic factor only from the time of initial surgery until the third postoperative year, and no postoperative prognostic factors were detected after the fourth and fifth years. There were significant differences in disease-specific survival among pathological TNM stages between the time of initial surgery and postoperative year five, but not between stages I and II at postoperative years two, three, or four. There were no significant differences between the stages at postoperative year five. Relapse-free survival differed between stages II and III at postoperative year five, although the other results were similar to those for disease-specific survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prognostic factors for esophageal cancer alter during the postoperative period. Although the pathological stage at the time of initial surgery has less prognostic power after 3 years, it remains important to monitor treatments for esophageal cancer continuously, as well as concomitant diseases and other malignancies.
authors.forename: Chikara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kunisaki
authors.forename: Hirochika
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Makino
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Mitsuyoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ota
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Takagawa
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kosaka
authors.forename: Hidetaka A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Ono
authors.forename: Hirotoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Akiyama
authors.forename: Itaru
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Endo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002423:Cause of Death; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery*; D016629:Esophagectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011182:Postoperative Care; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome