Impact of weekday of esophageal cancer surgery on long-term oncological outcomes

Abstract

BackgroundStudies about the influence of weekday of esophagectomy on survival are limited and show conflicting results. This study aimed to explore whether weekday of esophagectomy affects patient's survival outcomes. MethodsPatients who underwent esophagectomy in a grade-A tertiary hospital from January 2015 to December 2016 were enrolled. The primary outcome was 5-year overall survival (OS). The secondary outcomes were 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) and days of hospitalization. The impact of weekday surgery on 5-year OS and DFS were evaluated with Cox regression, and impact on days of hospitalization was assessed using logistic regression. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was used to balance the confounding factors. ResultsA total of 1478 patients were included. The 5-year OS and DFS were 63.77% and 59.26% respectively. Multivariate analyses adjusted for covariables indicated that weekday was not significantly associated with OS (P = 0.076), nor days of hospitalization (P = 0.824), but it appeared to be associated with DFS (P = 0.044). Additionally, PSM analysis showed no significant effect of weekday on the 5-year OS, nor DFS and days of hospitalization. ConclusionIn patients diagnosed with squamous esophageal cancer, the survival outcome of patients was not influenced by weekday.