Short-Term clinical outcomes of non-curative endoscopic submucosal dissection for early esophageal adenocarcinoma

Objectives Few Western studies highlighted the outcomes of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for early esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). Data regarding the outcomes of noncurative ESDs remains scarce. In this study, we share our experience with ESD for early EAC with a focus on noncurative ESDs. Methods A retrospective single-center analysis of consecutive patients who underwent ESD for early EAC from August 2015 through February 2020. Primary outcomes included the clinical outcomes of noncurative ESDs along with overall en bloc, R0 and curative resection rates. Secondary outcomes included comparing results between T1a and T1b tumors. Results Final group included 23 T1a and 17 T1b EAC patients. Patients' median Charlson comorbidity index was five. En bloc resection rate was (97.5%). Compared to the T1b group, the T1a group had a statistically significantly higher R0 (78.3 vs. 41.2%; P = 0.0235), curative (73.9 vs. 11.8%; P = 0.0001) and accumulative endoscopic curative resection rates (82.6 vs. 23.5%; P = 0.0003). A study flowchart is presented in (Fig. 1). Out of the 21 noncurative ESDs, 10 patients (47.6%) underwent R0 esophagectomy, 6 patients (28.6%) are undergoing surveillance endoscopies without additional therapy, 3 patients (14.3%) underwent repeat curative ESD and 1 patient (4.76%) is receiving chemotherapy with surveillance endoscopy. Over median endoscopic follow-up of 22.5 months (IQR, 14.25-30.75), 2 out of 10 patients with noncurative ESDs had recurrent disease. Conclusions: ESD achieved a higher curative resection rate in T1a EAC when compared to T1b. Despite a lower curative resection rate in T1b EAC, certain patients might benefit from a conservative multimodal therapy.