Ivor Lewis Esophagectomy and the Care of Humphrey Bogart's Midesophageal Cancer.

In 1945, the Welsh surgeon Ivor Lewis first reported performing the resection of a midesophageal tumor through a combined approach involving the abdomen and right chest. Although his technique was initially rebuffed by the preeminent esophageal surgeons of the time, it quickly became the standard approach for cancers of the midesophagus. Here we review the development and early dissemination of Lewis' operation using the case of the American actor Humphrey Bogart, who underwent an Ivor Lewis esophagectomy for esophageal cancer in 1956.

[Brief introduction of surgical development of esophageal cancer in Japan].

Esophageal cancer surgery originated in the early 20(th) century. However, the true meaning of trans-thoracic esophagectomy and digestive tract reconstruction began in the 1930s. Almost at the same time, Japan and Western countries began the surgical exploration of esophageal cancer. Based on the pathological type of esophageal cancer in Asia, squamous cell carcinoma is the majority, and its biological characteristics and treatment strategies are different from those of European and American patients. After more than eighty years of development, the surgical treatment of esophageal cancer in Japan has been developed from the initial attempt, deep cultivation practice to the pursuit of excellence, and explored a set of more advanced surgical techniques and diagnostic strategies, which is unique in the world. On the basis of the establishment of the Japanese Society of Esophagus, Japanese scholars have developed and irregularly updated the Japanese Classification of Esophageal Cancer and published the professional academic journal Esophagus. The Japanese Clinical Oncology Group organized a number of phase Ⅲ clinical studies on esophageal cancer, providing strong evidence for the diagnosis and treatment of esophageal squamous carcinoma. Focused on the origin, development, current situation and future of esophageal cancer surgery in Japan, this paper summarized the development of esophageal cancer surgery in Japan through literature review, interviews with senior experts and Hot topics of esophageal cancer surgery-questionnaire survey of Japanese experts.

Boerhaave Syndrome - over 290 years of surgical experiences. Can the disorder recur?

Spontaneous perforation of the esophagus (Boerhaave syndrome) is a rare disease that poses a serious surgical challenge. The analysis of literature concerning the Boerhaave syndrome reveled cases of recurrent spontaneous perforation of the esophagus. The incidental nature of this condition calls for more accurate assessment of all such cases. The authors made a detailed evaluation of the data obtained from eight reports of recurrent Boerhaave syndrome. The data is presented as a summary table comparing the clinical course and outcomes of patients with the primary Boerhaave syndrome as well as recurrent Boerhaave syndrome.

Hallmarks in history of esophageal carcinoma.

Esophageal cancer is one of the deadliest cancers due to its aggressive behavior and poor survival. It was mentioned in the works of ancient Chinese and Arabo-islamic physicians, centuries before the recognition of high incidence in the Asian esophageal cancer belt. Till the 19th century the disease was considered incurable and the main goal of the proposed treatments was to alleviate dysphagia and pain. The introduction of esophagoscope in 1868 by Adolf Kussmaul (1822-1902) contributed to the observation of the living esophagus and to the diagnosis of esophageal pathologies, paving the way for new therapeutic approaches. In 1877, Vincenz Czerny (1842-1916) performed the first successful resection of the cervical esophagus for carcinoma, followed by Franz Torek (1861-1938) who carried out in 1913 the first successful subtotal thoracic esophagectomy and Tohru Ohsawa (1882-1984) who performed the world's first esophagectomy with an intrathoracic esophagogastric anastomosis. Nowadays, despite the advent of biomedical technology and the development of operation techniques, the surgical treatment of esophagus still remains a challenge.

[The road to modern esophageal surgery - from maximally invasive to minimally invasive]. / Der Weg zur modernen Speiseröhrenchirurgie - von maximal invasiv zu minimal invasiv.

520 new cases of esophageal carcinoma are diagnosed in Switzerland per year. 80% of these patients eventually die from their disease despite recent advances in surgical technique and systemic treatment. The first successful thoracic esophageal resection for carcinoma was performed in 1913, but only the introduction of modern anesthesia with oral intubation and positive pressure ventilation made thoracic operations routinely feasible. Esophageal resection can be performed open or minimally invasive. The minimally invasive esophageal resection has been proven to be safe with comparable mortality to open resection. Also, there is no difference in terms of radicality of the operation. Overall survival seems to be equal in published series, but results of prospective trials are still pending.

En Suisse chaque année sont diagnostiqués 520 nouveaux cas de cancer de l'oesophage. 80% des patients décèdent malgré les avancées notables des traitements chirurgicaux et médicaux dans ce domaine. La résection chirurgicale est le traitement de choix pour les cancers éligibles. En 1913 a eu lieu avec succès la première résection transthoracique d'un cancer de l'oesophage, mais ces interventions transthoraciques n'ont pu être réalisées dans la pratique courante qu'à compter du développement des techniques anesthésiologiques modernes incluant l'intubation orale et la ventilation par pression positive. L'intervention peut de nos jours être réalisée à ciel ouvert ou par technique mini-invasive. Cette dernière est une technique sûre, ayant un taux de mortalité comparable aux techniques à ciel ouvert dans les centres spécialisés. Aussi, il n'existe aucune différence quant à la radicalité de l'opération. Les résultats oncologiques sont comparables dans les séries publiées, toutefois les résultats d'études standardisées sont encore à venir.

A history of surgery for locally-advanced (T4) cancer of the thoracic esophagus in Japan and a personal perspective.

The history of esophageal surgery in Japan can be divided into three periods, an era of safety from 1930 to 1980, an era of radicality from 1980 to 2000, and the era of quality of life (QOL) from 2000 to the present. The treatment for T4 cancers of the thoracic esophagus has also changed over time from preoperative radiotherapy, combined resection of the neighboring organs with esophagectomy, and to definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT) with salvage surgery. At present, almost all patients with an unresectable T4 esophageal cancer receives dCRT. However, there are many patients with a residual or recurrent tumor after dCRT. Salvage surgery for such patients often results in incomplete resection of the tumor because the tumor involves the trachea and/or aorta. New techniques to enable the resection of such neighboring organs even during salvage surgery are needed. In the future, the mainstay of treatment for esophageal cancer will be CRT with the foreseeable progress in new drugs and new techniques of radiotherapy. Surgery will be indicated for a local failure after CRT, while combined resection of the neighboring organs will be necessary to treat a local failure after CRT for T4 cancers. New surgical techniques have to be developed through some application of new devices and equipment.

Times and trends in the treatment of spontaneous perforation of the esophagus: from Herman Boerhaave to the present age.

Spontaneous rupture of the esophagus is a rare devastating condition, which was first described by Herman Boerhaave in 1724. Only a handful of cases were recorded during the 18th and 19th centuries. Diagnosis was usually obtained on autopsy. Only in 1914 Irving Walker achieved the first antemortem diagnosis of spontaneous rupture of the esophagus. The dawn of thoracic surgery during the first decades of the 20th century opened up the way for operative cure. More than 200 years after Boerhaave's initial report, Barrett as well as Clagett and Olsen independently accomplished the first successful surgical treatment by primary repair of the esophageal lesion in 1947. Since those pioneer days, various suggestions for proper treatment have been made ranging from conservative, nonoperative means to extended procedures such as esophagectomy. Invention of minimally invasive surgery and endoscopic measures has further broadened the spectrum of available therapeutic options. The aim of this history article is to outline the development of diagnosis and management of spontaneous rupture of the esophagus from the age of Herman Boerhaave to the present times.

President's address of the 65th annual scientific meeting of the Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery: challenges for advanced esophageal cancer.

Advanced esophageal tumors have been a challenge for surgery since the very beginning, and these challenges continue still today. In the early period of three-field lymphadenectomy (late 1980s), there was no special attention paid to tracheal necrosis after such an extended operation. In 1988, we reported functional mediastinal dissection preserving the right bronchial artery to prevent such complications. In 1993, we reported that the survival after three-field lymphadenectomy was better than that after en-bloc esophagectomy, and then the lymph node compartment classification based on the metastatic rate and the survival rate. This concept was introduced into the 9th edition of the Guidelines for Clinical and Pathologic Studies on Carcinoma of the Esophagus published in 1999. In early 1980s, combined resection of the neighboring organs was initiated for a locally advanced esophageal cancer. Almost all patients who underwent such an operation, however, died of metastasis in the short-term after surgery without any additional treatment. In 1987, we reported several types of tracheal repair using the latissimus dorsi muscle flap, as a less-invasive surgery that enabled adjuvant or additive therapy, after resection of the trachea involved by cancer. Then in 2004, we demonstrated that the canine aorta could be resected even immediately after aortic stenting. This suggests that an esophageal cancer involving the aorta can be resected using a new technique. To meet the challenges posed by advanced esophageal cancer, the help of other specialized fields besides esophageal surgery is needed: "The specialist must know everything of something, something of everything."

1913: Annus mirabilis of esophageal surgery.

Although Sir Ronald Belsey once called the year 1904 "annus mirabilis," it is actually the year 1913 that stands out as the true milestone in esophageal surgery. Within a year, Torek performed the first transpleural resection for cancer in the thoracic esophagus, Zaaijer successfully resected the distal esophagus through the transpleural route, Heller performed the first myotomy for achalasia, and it was also the year of Ach's pioneering transmediastinal esophagectomy. Previously, in 1912, after a series of animal experiments by Beck and Jianu, Roepke successfully used the greater curvature of the stomach as a presternal conduit. Other previous approaches included reconstruction with jejunum (Roux-1907), colon (Kelling-1911), and skin tube (Bircher-1907). Several technical advances made these operations possible, most of all were the giant leaps in the perioperative medicine.

Neoadjuvant treatment of esophageal cancer.

The management of esophageal cancer has been evolving over the past 30 years. In the United States, multimodality treatment combining chemotherapy and radiotherapy (RT) prior to surgical resection has come to be accepted by many as the standard of care, although debate about its overall effect on survival still exists, and rightfully so. Despite recent improvements in detection and treatment, the overall survival of patients with esophageal cancer remains lower than most solid tumors, which highlights why further advances are so desperately needed. The aim of this article is to provide a complete review of the history of esophageal cancer treatment with the addition of chemotherapy, RT, and more recently, targeted agents to the surgical management of resectable disease.

Laparoscopic upper gut surgery.

Australian surgeons have been prominent in the introduction, development, and consolidation of laparoscopic surgery of the upper gut. In doing this, some of the very best principles of surgical innovation have been in evidence: preliminary animal work in which to test hypotheses and techniques, followed by careful application and documentation in the clinical setting, randomized clinical trials and finally academic reporting and ongoing development. This review documents the introduction of laparoscopic surgery for gastroesophageal reflux, hiatus hernia, achalasia, gastroesophageal malignancy, obesity, and a range of emergency conditions in Australia. Those involved are regarded as world leaders in their field. A vital component of this success has been the close cooperation between surgeons and gastroenterologists within the Gastroenterological Society of Australia.