Pathologic complete response after neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy: persistent recurrence risk highlights the need for stratified management - PubMed
5 hours ago
- #esophageal cancer
- #neoadjuvant therapy
- #recurrence risk
- Pathologic complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy (nICT) predicts favorable outcomes in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).
- A multicenter study of 2,135 ESCC patients receiving nICT found 22.2% achieved pCR, but 12.7% experienced recurrence, mostly distant metastases (63.3%).
- The 2-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 89.6% and 92.1%, respectively.
- Advanced clinical nodal stage (cN2-3) was an independent risk factor for inferior RFS but not OS.
- Adjuvant treatment did not significantly improve survival outcomes in pCR patients.
- The study suggests risk-adapted postoperative management may be preferable to routine adjuvant treatment for pCR patients.