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294 LONG TERM OUTCOMES OF THORACOSCOPIC-ASSISTED OESOPHAGECTOMY FOR EARLY OESOPHAGEAL CANCER


 
 
 Oesophageal cancer is the 9th most common cancer in Scotland, yet is ranked 5th for cancer mortality. This is in part due to most new patients presenting with locally-advanced or metastatic disease. Early disease is often found during Barrett's surveillance or serendipitously. There is a paucity of literature describing the outcomes of patients who undergo resection for early disease in Europe, particularly morbidity, actual five-year survival rate, recurrence patterns and ultimate causes of death.
 
 
 
 Data for fifty consecutive patients from the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh (RIE) with cN0 disease who underwent thoracoscopically-assisted McKeown (three-stage) oesophagectomy between 2005 and 2013 were recorded in a prospectively-maintained database. 20/50 were in a formal endoscopic surveillance program for Barrett’s oesophagus. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) became widely used at RIE in 2007 with the introduction of an endoscopic mucosal resection service, with 39/40 patients operated on since 2007 undergoing pre-operative EUS.
 
 
 
 Median age was 67 (range 46–81) with 34 males and 16 females. 44 had ≤pT1b, while 48 patients were pN0 (median node yield of 12). There were 4 anastomotic leaks, 4 recurrent laryngeal nerve palsies and 2 tracheo-oesophageal fistulas. There was one in-hospital death secondary to intra-operative and post-operative myocardial infarctions. As of January 2020, 16/50 patients had died, with a median survival of 9 years; five year survival was approximately 85%. 5 patients died of metastatic disease (1.3 to 6.8 years post-resection). 10 patients died of other causes, the most common being alcoholic liver disease (n = 3).
 
 
 
 Patients in this case series received high quality surgery and peri-operative care, and survival rates were high. This dataset demonstrates that a holistic approach to healthcare is vitally important in the long-term care of such a cohort, because most deaths were not related to their cancer. This should be kept in mind when counselling patients with early disease and when liaising with their primary care provider.
