Cox regression analysis on prognostic factors of patients after curative esophagectomy

  Objective   To identify prognostic factors in patients with esophageal cancer after curative resection.

  Methods   971 patients operated on for neoplasia of the esophagus, who underwent a curative resection were included in this study.14 variables were studied by univariate analysis.The variables linked with survival were include in a Cox model and then prognostic index(PI)was calculated.Cumulative surviva of the entire population was computed by Life table analysis.

  Results   Cumulative survival at 3 and 5 years was 78.29%, 68.81%, respectively and median survival was 97149 months.In univariate analysis, 10 out of 14 factors were statistically linked with survival.In multivariate analysis(Cox model), 5 independent factors were linked with survival which included:clinical stage, location of tumor, differentiation of tumor, depth of invasion and number of node metastases.

  Conclusion   Cumulative survival at 3, 5 years was relatively high.According to the Wald value, clinical stage was the major prognostic factor affecting the survival of patients with esophageal carcinoma.