PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Juwei Mu
AU  - Fang Lu
AU  - Jian Li
AU  - Guiyu Cheng
AU  - Kelin Sun
AU  - Rugang Zhang
AU  - Jie He
TI  - Clinical Application of Exclusive Right-Thoracic Approach in Surgery with or without Laparotomy for Mid-Upper Esophageal Cancer
AID  - 10.1007/s11805-008-0064-9
DP  - 2008 Feb 01
TA  - Chinese Journal of Clinical Oncology
PG  - 64--66
VI  - 5
IP  - 1
4099  - http://www.cancerbiomed.org/content/5/1/64.short
4100  - http://www.cancerbiomed.org/content/5/1/64.full
SO  - Cancer Biol Med2008 Feb 01; 5
AB  - OBJECTIVE To evaluate the clinical application of a right-thoracic approach with or without laparotomy for mid-upper esophageal cancer.METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the data of 34 esophageal cancer patients who received Belsey surgery or a modified Ivor-Lewis surgery from November 1992 to April 2007. Twenty of the patients underwent a Belsey prodecdure (Group A) from November 1992 to January 2001 and 14 underwent a modified Ivor-Lewis prodecdure (Group B) from May 2001 to April 2007.RESULTS Twenty patients with esophageal cancer received an esophagectomy through an exclusive right-thoracic approach (Belsey surgery), and 14 patients received an esophagectomy through a right-thoracic approach combined with a laparotomy (modified Ivor-Lewis surgery). The complication rate was 15% (3/20) and 7.1% (1/14) respectively. The survival rate was 42.9% (5-year survival) and 38.7% (5-year survival) respectively for these two groups.CONCLUSION An exclusive right-thoracic approach (Belsey surgery) is associated with more complications. It is not a routine surgery for cancer of the mid-upper thorax of the esophagus, but can be selectively used as palliative esophagectomy for esophageal cancer patients with poor pulmonary function. Modified Ivor-Lewis surgery can simultaneously be utilized to resect the primary tumor and dissect lymph nodes of the thorax and abdomen. With a shorter time period of surgery and postoperative recovery period, modified Ivor-Lewis surgery can achieve better effects with patients who have midupper esophagus cancer.