3. List of landmark randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on minimally invasive esophagectomy.

Trial	Country	Recruitment period	Surgical procedures compared			Number of patients		Primary endpoint
			Group A	Group B		Group A	Group B
MIE, minimally invasive esophagectomy; a.e., as expected; OS, overall survival; LND, lymph node dissection.
MIRO (96,99)	France	2009−2012	Hybrid; laparoscopic abdominal phase and right thoracotomy	Open		103	104	Major postoperative 30-day morbidity
TIME (98)	the Netherlands, Italy, Spain	2009−2011	Thoracoscopic and laparoscopic	Open		59	56	Postoperative pulmonary infection
MIOMIE (100)	Austria	2010−2011	Hybrid; laparoscopic abdominal phase and right thoracotomy	Open		14	12	Morbidity and 30-day mortality
ROMIO (101)	UK	2016− results awaited	Laparoscopically assisted/totally MIE	Open		203 (a.e.)	203 (a.e.)	Postoperative patient-reported physical function
RAMIE (105)	China	2017− ongoing	Robot-assisted MIE	Laparoscopy plus thoracoscopy		180 (a.e.)	180 (a.e.)	5-year OS
REVATE (106)	China	2018− ongoing	Robot-assisted esophagectomy	Hybrid thoracoscopy plus laparotomy or laparoscopy		95	95	LND quality assessment
ROBOT (102)	the Netherlands	2012−2016	Robot-assisted/thoracolaparoscopic	Open		54	55	Overall postoperative complications