Pathological tumor response and its association with recurrence patterns and survival after neoadjuvant…

Cohort studyKorean journal of clinical oncology· Aug 2026

Pathological tumor response and its association with recurrence patterns and survival after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and esophagectomy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a tertiary care center experience from India.

Feroz Khan, Suraj Surendran, Inian Samarasam … Manu Mathew

Esophageal SurgeryCohort studyPrognosis

Poor pathological responders mostly recur locoregionally, not systemically, after esophagectomy

Pathological tumor response and its association with recurrence patterns and survival after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and esophagectomy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a tertiary care center experience from India.

Feroz Khan … Manu Mathew

Korean journal of clinical oncology · Aug 2026

Background

Pathological response, assessed using tumor regression grade (tumor regression grade), is an established prognostic marker; however, evidence regarding its association with the pattern and timing of recurrence remains limited.

Purpose

This study evaluated recurrence patterns, timing of recurrence, and survival outcomes according to pathological tumor response following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and esophagectomy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed 129 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who underwent neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by radical esophagectomy between January 2013 and June 2023.

n = 129 patients

Results

poor responders recurred locally, not distantly, after surgery

TRG 0 isolated locoreg

16.7%

TRG 3 isolated locoreg

80%

More results

Among 129 patients, 33 (25.6%) developed recurrence.

Systemic recurrence was the most common pattern (16/33, 48.5%), followed by combined locoregional and systemic recurrence (9/33, 27.3%) and isolated locoregional recurrence (8/33, 24.2%).

More results

Patients with tumor regression grade 0 had the lowest proportion of isolated locoregional recurrence (16.7%), with systemic and combined recurrence accounting for 50.0% and 33.3%, respectively.

“

Conclusion · 1 of 2

Poor pathological response was associated with earlier and predominantly locoregional recurrence, whereas favourable pathological response was associated with a greater proportion of systemic recurrence.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

These findings suggest that pathological tumor response may help inform postoperative risk stratification and guide individualized surveillance strategies in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Pathological tumor response and its association with recurrence patterns and survival after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and esophagectomy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a tertiary care center experience from India.

Pathological tumor response and its association with recurrence patterns and survival after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and esophagectomy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a tertiary care center experience from India.

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