Influence of Induction Therapy on Robot-Assisted McKeown Esophagectomy for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

<b><i>Background:</i></b> The present study was to investigate the influence of induction therapy on robot-assisted McKeown esophagectomy (RAME) with radical superior mediastinal lymph node dissection for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in a high-volume cancer center. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A consecutive patient cohort who underwent RAME from January 2017 to May 2019 were reviewed. The perioperative outcomes of patients with induction therapy were compared with those who had surgery alone. <b><i>Results:</i></b> In total, 118 patients underwent RAME during the study period. The average age was 59.1 ± 7.5 years, including 100 male and 18 female patients. Thirty patients (25.4%) had induction therapy, and 88 patients did not receive induction therapy. The average age of the patients treated with induction therapy was younger than those received surgery alone (56.8 ± 6.1 vs. 59.5 ± 7.6 years, <i>p</i> = 0.039). There were no statistically significant differences in the mean operative time and estimated blood loss between both groups. Complications occurred in 46 (39.0%) patients. There were no statistically significant differences in the rates of any complications between both groups (<i>p</i> = 0.951). There were no deaths in either group. The hospital stay was prolonged in patients with induction therapy than those in the surgery-alone group (20.8 ± 8.9 vs. 16.8 ± 6.0, <i>p</i> = 0.048). There was no statistically significant difference in the average number of dissected lymph nodes in total and both recurrent laryngeal nerve stations between both groups. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> For patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, induction therapy has no influence on RAME with radical superior mediastinal lymph node dissection.