Volume Outcome Relationships and Effects

This is a retrospective analysis to assess if high-volume hospital facilities experience greater or lesser rates of incidence in patients with esophageal cancer than low-volume facilities.

The relationship between volume and outcomes has been proven in pancreatic cancer. Similar to pancreatic cancer, esophageal cancer historically has a bad prognosis. Esophageal cancer is typically asymptomatic, resulting in an advanced stage at the time of diagnosis. Additionally, it also has a significantly high morbidity and mortality. Therefore, it is crucial to determine volume-outcome relationships in esophageal cancer. This study aims to elucidate what these findings may entail by evaluating the impact that the volume-outcome relationship has on treatment assessment in esophageal cancer patients.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the outcomes of esophageal cancer resection in patients in high volume (more than 5 esophagectomy performed per year) and low volume (less than 5 esophagectomy performed per year) hospital facilities. Furthermore, this paper will assess the outcomes of neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy in esophageal cancer.