Is radiotherapy necessary after esophageal cancer surgery? Consider many factors

Whether radiotherapy is needed after esophageal cancer surgery cannot be accurately determined, and multiple factors need to be considered comprehensively. If lymph node metastasis occurs after surgery, or if palliative surgery is chosen, it is best to combine it with radiotherapy.

After diagnosis, esophageal cancer generally requires surgical resection. Patients often worry about recurrence of the disease after surgery, so they want to use radiotherapy as an adjuvant therapy. So is radiotherapy necessary after esophageal cancer surgery?
1. Is radiotherapy needed after esophageal cancer surgery? <br/>Whether radiotherapy is needed after esophageal cancer surgery cannot be generalized. It needs to be determined according to the specific situation. Many factors can be considered comprehensively, including postoperative cancer metastasis and surgical method selection. However, in order to improve the effective cure rate, radiotherapy can be given under the guidance of a doctor.
2. Factors affecting whether radiotherapy is required after esophageal cancer surgery
1. Cancer metastasis <br/>If there are reactions such as metastasis and spread of peripheral lymph nodes after esophageal cancer surgery, it indicates that there is an abnormality in the esophageal cancer tumor bed and further radiotherapy is needed. If the cancerous tissue has been completely removed, radiotherapy is not required.
2. Surgery <br/>For patients who undergo radical resection, radiotherapy is not required after surgery. However, if palliative esophagectomy is chosen, radiotherapy is best used as an auxiliary therapy to obtain a better prognosis.