Retrospective analysis of disease characteristics and treatment patterns among patients with esophageal cancer across 14 surgically represented centers

Sep 23, 2026

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Retrospective patient-level study describing esophageal cancer (EC) clinical characteristics and treatment patterns in China prior to immunotherapy approval in 2020. CHANNEL included adults initiating therapy for newly diagnosed EC from January to December 2018 across 14 hospitals, summarizing demographics, clinicopathologic features, and 6-month treatment patterns. Among 3,493 patients, men predominated and most tumors were squamous cell carcinoma, with differentiated surgical and systemic management by resectability stage.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

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Introduction

Clinical management and pre-immunotherapy context

Abstract

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Cancer Biol Med 2024. doi: 10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2024.0336 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Retrospective analysis of disease characteristics and treatment patterns among patients with esophageal cancer across 14 surgically represented centers Zhihao Lu1, Mingfei Geng2, Yongtao Han3, Jianzhong Cao4, Jun Wang5, Tianshu Liu6, Xianglin Yuan7, Xue Meng8, Yanqiao Zhang9, Rong Zhao10, Lixin Wan11, Enxiao Li12, Wenran Wang13, Zhijie Li14, Danfeng Shi15, Jing Qian15, Si Shi15, Fengshi Dong15, Lin Shen16 1 Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing 100142, China; 2 Department of Thoracic Surgery, Anyang Cancer Hospital, Anyang 455001, China; 3 Department of Thoracic Surgery, Sichuan Cancer Hospital, Chengdu 610042, China; 4 Department of Radiotherapy, Shanxi Provincial Cancer Hospital, Taiyuan 030013, China; 5 Department of Radiotherapy, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050011, China; 6 Department of Medical Oncology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; 7 Department of Medical Oncology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China; 8 Department of Radiotherapy, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan 250117, China; 9 Department of Gastroenterology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin 150081, China; 10 Department of Pharmacy, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212001, China; 11 Department of Medical Oncology, Nanyang Central Hospital, Nanyang 473005, China; 12 Department of Medical Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, China; 13 Department of the Cancer Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi 830054, China; 14 Department of Thoracic Surgery, Weifang Second People’s Hospital, Weifang 261041, China; 15Value & Implementation, Global Medical & Scientific Affairs, MSD China, Shanghai 200233, China; 16State Key Laboratory of Holistic Integrative Management of Gastrointestinal Cancers, Beijing Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research, Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing 100142, China ABSTRACT Objective: Esophageal cancer (EC) ranks eighth among cancers in cancer-related deaths globally, and ~44% of new cases occur in China. We sought to describe the clinical characteristics and treatment landscape of EC in China before the approval of immunotherapy in 2020. Methods: CHANNEL was a large, retrospective study using patient-level data from 14 hospitals/cancer centers across China, including adults initiating therapy for newly diagnosed EC (January to December 2018) . Demographics, clinicopathologic characteristics, and treatment patterns over 6 months were descriptively summarized. Results: Of 3,493 patients, 75.7% were men, the mean age was 64.1 years, and 75.0% had no family history of cancer. Most (92.8%) had squamous cell carcinoma, with a primary lesion in the middle esophagus (56.4%). Among patients with resectable EC, 92.9% received initial surgery, and 7.1% received neoadjuvant therapy, primarily chemotherapy (85.5% platinum-taxane). Among patients with unresectable early or locally advanced EC, 50.8% and 49.2% received palliative and radical therapy, respectively, as the initial treatment, primarily chemotherapy (66.5% platinum-taxane) and chemoradiotherapy (50.8% platinum-taxane), respectively. Adjuvant therapy was administered to 22.9% of patients undergoing initial surgery, and 2.4% receiving neoadjuvant therapy and surgery. Among patients with advanced EC, 84.6% received systemic therapy as an initial treatment, primarily chemotherapy (61.5% platinum-taxane) . Conclusions: Before the approval of immunotherapy in China, most patients with resectable early or locally advanced EC underwent

FAQs

What is the main objective of this study?

To characterize clinical features and describe treatment patterns for esophageal cancer patients in China before immunotherapy approval in 2020.

What dataset and time period were used in the retrospective analysis?

The CHANNEL study used patient-level data from 14 hospitals/cancer centers, including adults initiating therapy for newly diagnosed esophageal cancer between January and December 2018.

How did initial treatments differ across resectable versus unresectable cases?

For resectable disease, most patients received initial surgery, while unresectable early or locally advanced patients mainly received palliative or radical therapy, with chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy featuring prominently.

Sep 23, 2026

Uploaded by Finn