Esophageal bypass in two patients with a complete response after definitive chemoradiotherapy for thoracic esophageal cancer

Abstract

Esophageal bypass is a palliative operation for patients with unresectable esophageal cancer and impaired oral intake. This method is recently used to treat complications such as stenosis associated with esophageal cancer or esophagorespiratory fistula after chemoradiotherapy (CRT). However, its outcome has not been evaluated. We describe the effectiveness of esophageal bypass after CRT in two patients with a complete response (CR) but marked deterioration of quality of life due to esophageal stenosis after definitive CRT. The first patient had metastases in the right recurrent nerve lymph nodes and refused to undergo radical resection. The second patient had unresectable esophageal cancer due to invasion into the right subclavian artery. Both patients responded to esophageal bypass with good oral intake and without relapse. These two cases demonstrate that esophageal bypass can be a good, lowinvasive surgical option for patients with CR but with esophageal stenosis after definitive CRT.