Multimodality treatments with endoscopic mucosal resection of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma with submucosal invasion

Background and study aims: A standard treatment for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) with submucosal invasion is considered to be radical resection at present. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of multimodality treatments with endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) of esophageal SCC with submucosal invasion. Method: Eighteen cases of SCC with submucosal invasion were treated with EMR. Lymphatic invasion was found in 11 cases (67%), and there were no cases of blood vessel invasion. EMR was performed prior to any other treatment. Chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy were added if indicated by the histopathological features. Results: There were no cases of local recurrence. Lymph-node recurrence was detected in I case treated with EMR alone. There were no cases of cancer death. The overall survival rate was 83% in all patients. Conclusions: Multimodality treatments with EMR were effective in treating esophageal SCC with submucosal invasion.