Esophagectomy:Three-field Versus Two-field Lymphadenectomy (ECTOP-2002)

This is a clinical trial from Eastern Cooperative Thoracic Oncology Project (ECTOP), numbered as ECTOP-2002. Esophageal carcinoma is an aggressive disease with a poor prognosis. Surgical resection with radical lymphadenectomy remains the basic method of management of this malignancy. Lymph node metastasis is one of the most important factors in predicting the prognosis of patients with esophageal carcinoma, but the extent of lymph node dissection is still in debate, and there is no statistical evidence based on large scale prospective randomized trials with regard to the issue that which is the optimal extent of lymphadenectomy for esophageal cancer. The purpose of this study is to test two different extents of lymphadenectomy (Cervical-thoracic-upper abdominal three-field lymphadenectomy and Thoracic-upper abdominal two -field lymphadenectomy) in middle or lower third intrathoracic esophageal cancer. This research is being done to see whether one extent of lymphadenectomy is superior than the other with better long-term outcome and acceptable postoperative short-term outcome or not.