Table 1.
Main characteristics of selected studies
| ID | Author | Journal | Year | Study design | N | TNM staging | Histology | CT/CRT/RT | Tissue type | Pathological score | Clinical score | Time of scan | Metabolic/immune markers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Göbel et al.28 a | Clinical and Translational Radiation Oncology | 2022 | Retrospective | 76 | II–III | EAC, GEAC | CRT | Pretreatment biopsies | Mandard (TRG1–3 vs. TRG 4–5) | NA | NA | CD8, PD-1, PD-L1 |
| 2 | Haddad et al.29 a | Journal of Personalized Medicine | 2022 | Retrospective | 43 | I–III | EAC, GEAC, ESCC | CRT;CT | Surgical specimens | College of American Pathologist (1–3) | NA | NA | CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD45R0+, Foxp3+, CD20+, CD163+ |
| 3 | Fassan et al. 23 a | Cancer Medicine | 2019 | Retrospective | 88 | I–IV | ESCC | CRT | Surgical specimens | Mandard (TRG1 vs. TRG2–5) | NA | NA | CD4; Tbet; FoxP3; CD8; CD80; PD-L1; |
| 4 | Goedegebuure et al.24 a | Oncoimmunology | 2021 | Retrospective | 40 | II–III | EAC, GEAC | CRT | Tumor samples; surgical specimens | Mandard (TRG1 vs. TRG 2–3 vs. TRG4–5) | NA | NA | CD8/CD163; CK: CD3; FoxP3; CD163; Ki67 |
| 5 | Huang et al.25 a | Journal of Clinical Medicine | 2019 | Retrospective | 107 | II–III | ESCC | CRT | Surgical specimens | pCR; no pCR | NA | NA | PD-L1 |
| 6 | Koemans et al.30 a | Histopathology | 2021 | Retrospective | 123 | II–III | EAC, GEAC | CRT | Surgical specimens | Mandard (TRG2 vs. TRG4–5) | NA | NA | CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, FOXP3, PD-L1 |
| 7 | Kotsafti et al.26 a | Oncoimmunology | 2020 | Prospective | 123 | II–III | EAC, GEAC | CRT | Pretreatment biopsies; healthy esophageal mucosa close to cancer site | Mandard (TRG1 vs. TRG2–5) | NA | NA | mRNA of CD80; CD8; CD28; CD38; CTLA4; CD8alpha; CD8beta; CD107a (LAMP1); CD69; Tbet (TBX21); SERPINB3; TP53; HER2 (ERBB2); PD-1 (PDCD1); PD-L1 (CD274); PD-L2 (PDCD1LG2); MLH1; MSH6; MSH3; PMS2; BRAF; IFNγ; FOXP3; CD25 (IL2RA); CD94 (KLRD1); CTLA4; TNFβ (LT; TNFSF1) |
| 8 | Soeratram et al.27 a | The Journal of Pathology | 2021 | Retrospective | 188 | II–III | EAC, GEAC | CRT | Pretreatment biopsies | Mandard (TRG1–3 vs. 4–5) | NA | NA | PD-L1; PD-1; CD274PD-1; CD279; FOXP3; CD8; pan-cytokeratin multiplex; MHC class I, II duplex |
| 9 | Alvarado et al.31 a | Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery | 2022 | Retrospective | 244 | II–III | EAC, GEAC, ESCC | CRT | NA | pCR; no pCR | NA | NA | Diabetes |
| 10 | Boyd et al.41 a | ASCO Annual Meeting I | 2010 | Retrospective | 122 | NA | EAC, GEAC, ESCC | CRT | NA | pCR; no pCR | NA | NA | DM; obesity |
| 11 | Fang et al.32 b | International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics | 2017 | Prospective | 20 | IIa–IIIb | EAC; GEAC, ESCC | CRT | NA | Mandard (TRG1 vs. TRG2 vs. TRG3+) | ΔSUVmax; ΔSUVmean; ΔTLG; MTV | Pre-CRT; during CRT; post-CRT | NA |
| 12 | Gillham et al.33 b | British Journal of Cancer | 2006 | Retrospective | 32 | II–III | EAC, GEAC, ESCC | CRT | NA | Mandard (TRG1–2 vs. TRG3–5) | ΔSUVmean; MTV | Pre-CRT; during CRT | NA |
| 13 | Kukar et al.34 b | JAMA Surgery | 2015 | Retrospective | 77 | NA | EAC, GEAC | CRT | NA | pCR; no pCR | SUVmax; ΔSUVmean; %reduction SUVmax; mean linear length of uptake, in cm, pre- and post-CRT; change in linear length | Pre-CRT; post-CRT | NA |
| 14 | Arnett et al.35 b | International Journal of Radiation Oncology | 2016 | Retrospective | 193 | I–IV | EAC, GEAC | CRT | NA | pCR; no pCR | ΔSUVmax; ΔSUR to blood pool uptake; ΔSUR to liver uptake | Pre-CRT; post-CRT | NA |
| 15 | Choi et al.36 b | European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging | 2021 | Retrospective | 480 | 0–III | ESCC | CRT | NA | Mandard (TRG1 vs. TRG2–5) | MTV; SUVmax; SUVavg; TLG | Pre-CRT; post-CRT | NA |
| 16 | Dewan et al.37 b | Journal of Gastrointestinal Cancer | 2017 | Prospective | 70 | I–III | ESCC | CRT | NA | pCR; no pCR | SUVmax; % ΔSUVmax | Pre-CRT; post-CRT | NA |
| 17 | Lee et al.38 b | European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery | 2021 | Retrospective | 158 | I–III | ESCC | CRT | NA | pCR; no pCR | ΔSUVmax; % ΔSUVmax | Pre-CRT; post-CRT | NA |
| 18 | Piessen et al.39 b | Annals of Surgery | 2013 | Retrospective | 60 | II–III | EAC, GEAC, ESCC | CRT | NA | Grade I: ≥50% VRTC; Grade II: 10–50% VRTC with fibrosis; Grade III: <10%42 | % ΔSUVmax | Pre-CRT; post-CRT | NA |
| 19 | Van Rossum et al.40 b | European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging | 2017 | Retrospective | 70 | EAC, GEAC | CRT | NA | Chirieac’s TRG: TRG1–4 (TRG1–2 vs. TRG3–4)43 | SUVmax; SUVmean; MTV; TLG; | Pre-CRT; post-CRT | NA | |
| 20 | Li et al.21 b | Scientific Reports | 2021 | Retrospective | 127 | II–III | ESCC | CRT | Pre-CRT blood; post-CRT blood | pCR; no pCR | ΔSUV; ΔSUV ratio | Pre-CRT; post-CRT | NLR pre-CRT; NLR post-CRT |
| 21 | Wang et al.22 b | European Journal of Cancer | 2010 | Retrospective | 405 | I–III | EAC, GEAC, ESCC, other | CRT | Surgical specimens | pCR; no pCR | NA | Pre-CRT; post-CRT |
Obese (≥25 kg/m2); non-obese (< 25 kg/m2) |
a No presence of 18F-FDG-PET scan
b Presence of 18F-FDG-PET scan
CT chemotherapy, CRT chemoradiotherapy, RT radiotherapy, EAC esophageal adenocarcinoma, GEAC gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma, ESCC esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, pCR pathologic complete response, SUVmax maximum standardized uptake value, SUVmean mean standardized uptake value, SUVavg average standardized uptake value, TLG total lesion glycolysis, MTV metabolic tumor volume, SUR standardized uptake ratio, TRG tumor regression grade, NLR neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, NA not available, PD-L1 programmed death-ligand 1, PD-1 programmed death-1, MHC major histocompatibility complex, DM diabetes mellitus, 18F-FDG-PET/CT F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography