[Gastric pull-up in hypopharyngeal and cervical esophageal cancers].

OBJECTIVES: Gastric pull-up is a common technique in the reconstruction of gastrointestinal continuity following surgery for the primary esophageal and hypopharyngeal tumors with involvement of the esophagus. We evaluated the results of surgery in patients with cervical esophageal and hypopharyngeal cancers.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eleven patients (4 women, 7 men; mean age 46 years; range 18 to 70 years) underwent surgery for hypopharyngeal and cervical esophageal epidermoid carcinoma. Surgery included pharyngolaryngoesophagectomy, subtotal thyroidectomy, and gastric pull-up in all patients. In addition, nine patients had radical neck dissection on the involved side and modified radical neck dissection on the contralateral side. One patient had bilateral radical neck dissection. Patients who were alive were followed-up for a mean period of 27 months (range 14 to 46 months).

RESULTS: The one-, two-, and three-year survival rates were 54% (6/11), 36% (4/11) and 18% (2/11), respectively. Three patients died from early postoperative complications, two from organ failure due to locoregional recurrence (7th month) and to distant metastasis (11th month).

CONCLUSION: Despite the small size of the study, the results favor the use of gastric pull-up in selected patients with cervical esophageal and hypopharyngeal cancers.