All patients undergoing esophagectomy at the Forth Hospital of Hebei Medical University between January 1986 and December 2002 were reviewed. Survival curves were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.
Of 1325 patients with invasive cancer, had squamous cell cancer of the esophagus. Median overall survival (OS) of the entire group was 36.7 months and 5-year OS was 39.3 % . The most significant prognostic factor for overall survival was the presence of positive LN (P < 0.01). Additionally, patients with zero involved LN had a 5-year survival of 49.1 % , while patients with 1–3 positive LN and >3 positive LN had 5-year survival of 19.5 % and 11.0 % , respectively (P < 0.01). Finally, an increasing ratio of positive to examined LN was linearly associated with a worsening 5-year survival, patients with <25 % , 25 % –50 % and >50 % positive LN had 5-year survival of 47.53 % , 14.6 % and 8.9 % , respectively (P < 0.01).
Increasing number of positive LN in patients with esophageal cancer and increasing ratio of metastatic to examine LN portend a poor prognosis. These factors should play an important role in predicting prognosis of patients.