Radical Thoracoscopic Esophagectomy for Elderly Patients with Advanced Esophageal Cancer

We report a case of an elderly patient with advanced esophageal cancer who underwent multidisciplinary treatment. An 86-year-old male consulted our hospital with complaints of pharynx discomfort and difficulty in swallowing. He was preoperatively diagnosed with esophageal cancer, T3N2M0, Stage III . We performed 2 courses of cisplatin plus 5-FU therapy as neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The primary tumor and metastatic lymph nodes reduced in size, and thoracoscopic esophagectomy in the prone position was performed. Pathological findings were esophageal cancer, pT3-Ad, INF b, ly2, v1, IM0, pPM0, pDM0, pRM1, pN3, pStage III . As the radical margin was positive, chemoradiotherapy was performed. We continued postoperative chemotherapy for approximately 1 year, and the patient has survived without relapse for 4 years from esophagectomy. Even in patients over 80 years old, long-term prognosis can be expected by performing radical surgery and chemoradiotherapy.