Outcomes After Curative Resection for Gastro-Esophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma

Abstract Background Gastro-Esophageal Junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma is becoming increasingly common in the west. Given the anatomical location of the junction there are several surgical approaches that can be used to treat these tumours, this is often guided by the sub-type of tumour, categorised using the Siewert classification. While overall survival for GEJ cancer tends to be poor compared with other solid organ cancers, changes in diagnosis and treatment have led to improvements in recent years. This study represents one of the largest retrospective reviews of its type to focus on the short- and long-term outcomes of patients undergoing curative resection for GEJ cancer. Methods Information was collected on 807 consecutive patients undergoing curative resection for gastro-esophageal junction adenocarcinoma between February 2010 and April 2023. The primary outcome was overall 5- and 10-year survival. Secondary outcomes included: disease free survival, survival based on surgical resection, 30- and 90-day mortality, post operative complications, oncology and pathology outcomes. For each outcome overall results and analysis comparing Siewert types was performed. Results 807 patients were included 319 type I cancers (39.5%), 401 type II (50%) and 87 type III (10.8%). Type I and II were predominantly managed with Esophagectomy (Type I = 100%, Type II = 97.5%). For Type III tumours 49% had esophagectomy and 51% had either a total or extended total gastrectomy. Siewert groups had comparable short-term outcomes, presented in table 1. Overall survival was 46% at 5 years and 37% at 10 years with no significant difference between Siewert types (p=0.24). Disease free survival was 55% at 5 years and 50% at 10 years with no significant difference between Siewert type (p=0.34). Conclusion The 3 Siewert classification subtypes of gastro-esophageal junction adenocarcinoma have similar short-term outcomes, overall and disease-free survival.