Clinicopathological features, treatment modalities, and prognosis of esophageal neuroendocrine carcinoma: A single‐center retrospective study

Objectives

Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the esophagus is recognized to have a rare incidence, high malignancy, and poor prognosis. This retrospective study was designed to review the clinical characteristics of patients diagnosed with esophageal neuroendocrine carcinoma (ENEC), analyze prognostic factors and explore potential biomarkers and optimal treatment strategies.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective review of 82 patients diagnosed with ENEC between January 2009 and December 2020 in a single institute. The survival analysis was calculated with Kaplan–Meier and log‐rank methods. Univariate analysis and a Cox regression model were used to analyze prognostic factors.

Results

The median overall survival time (mOS) for all patients was 13 months. The results of the univariate analysis demonstrated that patients with liver or lung metastasis (HR 2.14, 95% CI 1.20‐3.81, p = 0.01 and HR 3.17, 95% CI 1.50‐6.69, p = 0.003) had poorer prognoses. Patients who exhibited positive CgA expression experienced superior survival outcomes compared to those with negative expression. (HR 0.36, 95% CI 0.19‐0.68, p = 0.002). Patients benefited more from chemotherapy without adjustment compared to those who had adjustment (dose reduction or cycles less than three, HR 2.35, 95% CI 1.44‐3.84, p <0.001). In multivariate analysis, CgA expression, liver and lung metastasis, and chemotherapy adjustment were independent prognostic factors.

Conclusions

For patients with neuroendocrine carcinoma, advanced stage, chemotherapy adjustment, liver metastasis, and lung metastasis were associated with poor survival, while CgA expression was good for prognosis.

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