The impact of the Charlson comorbidity index on the prognosis of esophageal cancer patients who underwent esophagectomy with curative intent

The aim of this study was to clarify the influence of Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) on treatment options, and on short- and mid-term outcomes in esophageal cancer patients who underwent esophagectomy. Patients who underwent curative-intent esophagectomy from 2009 to 2014 were classified by CCI. A CCI of 2 was defined as high, while a CCI of 0 or 1 was classified as low. Clinicopathological parameters, including overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS), were compared between the groups. Among 548 patients, the most frequent comorbidity was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (n = 142, 25.9%), followed by solid tumor (n = 79, 14.4%). A high CCI was significantly correlated with older age (P < 0.001), surgery alone (P = 0.020), a lower number of dissected lymph nodes (P < 0.001), lower rate of R0 resection (P = 0.048), and prolonged hospital stay (P < 0.001). In the low group, OS after surgery was favorable in comparison to the the high group. Although DSS was comparable between the groups, the CCI was significantly associated with a poor prognosis in patients with stage II disease. The CCI was significantly correlated with the prognosis of esophageal cancer patients who underwent curative-intent esophagectomy.