Preoperative prediction of a pathologic complete response of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy

Although pathologic complete response was predictable preoperatively to some extent, the accuracy was somewhat low. Considerable caution should be exercised when selecting the watch-and-wait approach with operation as needed and omitting planned operative intervention even for patients who achieve clinical complete response after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.