TY - JOUR A1 - Davarzani, N A1 - Hutchins, GGA A1 - West, NP A1 - Hewitt, LC A1 - Nankivell, M A1 - Cunningham, D A1 - Allum, WH A1 - Smyth, E A1 - Valeri, N A1 - Langley, RE A1 - Grabsch, HI JF - Histopathology UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/his.13491 SN - 1365-2559 IS - 7 N1 - Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Histopathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. VL - 72 SP - 1180 KW - Carcinoma KW - Chemotherapy KW - Neoadjuvant KW - Oesophageal KW - Tumour regression grade N2 - AIMS: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) remains an important therapeutic option for advanced oesophageal cancer (OC). Pathological tumour regression grade (TRG) may offer additional information by directing adjuvant treatment and/or follow-up but clinical value remains unclear. We analysed the prognostic value of TRG and associated pathological factors in OC patients enrolled in the Medical Research Council OE02 trial. METHODS: Histopathology was reviewed in 497 resections from OE02 trial participants randomised to surgery (S-group;n=244) or NAC followed by surgery (CS-group;n=253). The association between TRG groups [responders (TRG1-3) versus non-responders (TRG4-5)], pathological lymph node (LN) status and overall survival (OS) was analysed. RESULTS: n=195/253(77%) of CS patients were classified as 'non-responders' imparting a significantly higher mortality risk compared to responders, [hazard ratio (HR)=1.53, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.05-2.24, p=0.026]. OS was significantly better in patients without LN metastases irrespective of TRG [non-responders HR=1.87, 95%CI=1.33-2.63, p<0.001 versus responders HR=2.21, 95%CI=1.11-4.10), p=0.024]. In multivariate analyses, LN status was the only independent factor predictive of OS in CS patients (HR=1.93, 95%CI=1.42-2.62, p<0.001). Exploratory subgroup analyses excluding radiotherapy-exposed patients (n=48) showed similar prognostic outcomes to primary analyses. CONCLUSION: LN status post-NAC is the most important prognostic factor, irrespective of TRG. Potential clinical implications e.g. adjuvant treatment or intensified follow-up, reinforce the importance of LN dissection for staging and prognostication. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. ID - discovery10044327 AV - public Y1 - 2018/06// EP - 1188 TI - Prognostic value of pathological lymph node status and primary tumour regression grading following neoadjuvant chemotherapy ? results from the MRC OE02 oesophageal cancer trial ER -