Table 1. Clinicopathological characteristics of the patients (n = 141).
| SYSUCC | LZECH | FAHXU | |||
| Variable | No. (% of n) | No. (% of n) | No. (% of n) | p | |
| Gender | |||||
| Male | 58 (82.9) | 39 (63.9) | 10 (100) | 0.007 | |
| Female | 12 (17.1) | 22 (36.1) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Age (yrs) | |||||
| <60 | 44 (62.9) | 38 (62.3) | 7 (70.0) | 0.894 | |
| ≥60 | 26 (37.1) | 23 (37.7) | 3 (30.0) | ||
| Tumor location | |||||
| Upper third | 8 (11.4) | 6 (9.8) | 0 (0) | 0.306 | |
| Middle third | 41 (58.6) | 44 (72.1) | 6 (60.0) | ||
| Lower third | 21 (30.0) | 11 (18.0) | 4 (40.0) | ||
| Tumour length (cm)a | |||||
| <5 cm | 12 (30.8) | 18 (29.5) | 3 (0) | 0.991 | |
| ≥5 cm | 27 (69.2) | 43 (70.5) | 7 (70.0) | ||
| AJCC stage | |||||
| I | 1 (1.4) | 4 (6.6) | 0 (0) | 0.315 | |
| II | 27 (38.6) b | 18 (29.5) | 2 (20.0) | ||
| III | 42 (60.0) c | 39 (63.9) | 8 (80.0) | ||
| Pathology | |||||
| Pure SC | 64 (91.4) | 48 (78.7) | 8 (80.0) | 0.111 | |
| Mixed SC | 6 (8.6) | 13 (21.3) | 2 (20.0) | ||
| LV invasiona | |||||
| Yes | 29 (74.4) | 46 (75.4) | 4 (40.0) | ||
| No | 10 (25.6) | 15 (24.6) | 6 (60.0) | ||
| Treatment | |||||
| S | 19 (27.1) | 20 (32.8) | 3 (30.0) | <0.001 | |
| S+C | 17 (24.3) | 27 (44.3) | 3 (30.0) | ||
| S+R | 1 (1.4) | 8 (13.1) | 0 (0) | ||
| S+C+R | 2 (2.9) | 6 (9.8) | 4 (40.0) | ||
| C+R | 20 (28.6) | - | - | ||
| C | 11 (15.7) | - | - | ||
| Surgical outcomea | |||||
| R0 | 38 (97.4) | 57 (93.4) | 10 (100.0) | 0.594 | |
| R1 | 1 (2.6) | 1 (1.6) | 0 (0) | ||
| R2 | 0 (0) | 3 (4.9) | 0 (0) |
SYSUCC, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center; LZECH, Linzhou Esophageal Cancer Hospital; FAHXU, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University; AJCC, American Joint Committee on Cancer; SC, small cell; LV, lymphovascular; S, surgery; C, chemotherapy; R, radiotherapy. afor the patients with surgical resection (n = 110); bincluding 18 cases of pathological staging with surgical resection, 9 cases of clinical staging with non-surgical resection; c including 20 cases of pathological staging with surgical resection, 22 cases of clinical staging with non-surgical resection.