Impact of frailty on the long-term outcomes of elderly patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Objective: We aimed to clarify the association between frailty evaluated using the clinical frailty scale (CFS) and outcomes in elderly patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods: We retrospectively included 67 patients (aged ≥ 75 years) diagnosed with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (tumor depth ≥ m3) between 2011 and 2016. The patients were retrospectively evaluated and categorized according to their CFS scores (1–7) and divided into non-frailty (scores 1–2) and frailty groups (scores 3–7). Postoperative complications, 5 year survival rate, and prognostic risk factors were analyzed. Results: Significant differences in performance status, American Society of Anesthesiologists-Physical Status score, Charlson comorbidity index, and treatment type were observed between the two groups. Thirty-six patients underwent surgery, and morbidities with Clavien–Dindo grades ≥ II and ≥ IIIa were found in 72.2 and 47.2% of the patients, respectively. The remaining 31 patients underwent endoscopic resection and/or chemo (radio) therapy. The morbidity rate did not differ between the two groups. The 5 year survival rate was 75.3% overall and 92.7 and 60.8% in patients in the non-frailty and frailty groups, respectively (p = 0.007). Multivariate analysis revealed that frailty and cStage ≥ II were independent risk factors of overall survival (p = 0.005 and p = 0.013, respectively) and disease-specific survival (p = 0.048 and p = 0.027, respectively). Conclusions: Frailty greatly impacts the prognosis of elderly patients with esophageal cancer, regardless of surgical or nonsurgical treatment. The CFS score could be a useful prognostic predictor.