Table 1 Summary of clinical and histopathological characteristics of the 838 pT3N0-3M0 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients, the 5-year (5-yr), 10-year (10-yr) overall survival (OS) rate (%) and the 3-year (3-yr), 5-year (5-yr) disease-free survival (DFS) rate (%)

Sex

Male

672(80.2)

45.7

39.9

0.881

46.2

40.9

0.704

Female

166(19.8)

44.5

33.3

49.4

37.5

Age (years)

 ≤ 60

464(55.4)

48.9

44.2

0.007

50.3

44.0

0.029

 > 60

374(44.6)

41.2

31.7

42.5

35.3

Tumor location

Upper thoracic

119(14.2)

47.6

39.6

0.694

49.6

41.9

0.893

Middle thoracic

486(58.0)

45.9

41.7

46.8

40.2

Lower thoracic

233(27.8)

43.7

33.3

45.6

39.2

Degree of differentiation

Well

376(44.9)

49.1

41.8

0.001

53.1

44.9

 < 0.001

Moderate

392(46.8)

44.8

37.6

43.5

37.9

Poor

70(8.4)

29.9

27.8

32.6

27.9

LVI

No

392(46.8)

55.9

48.5

 < 0.001

57.7

50.9

 < 0.001

Yes

446(53.2)

36.4

29.7

37.5

30.9

PNI

No

317(37.8)

54.3

46.2

 < 0.001

55.5

48.0

0.001

Yes

521(62.2)

40.1

34.0

41.5

35.3

pN

N0

405(48.3)

61.6

52.6

 < 0.001

63.8

56.1

 < 0.001

N1

238(28.4)

40.3

34.2

41.1

34.6

N2

140(16.7)

21.1

16.9

22.6

16.9

N3

55(6.6)

13.7

13.7

9.0

6.8

CRM CAP criteria

R0

779(93.0)

47.2

39.8

 < 0.001

48.5

41.6

 < 0.001

R1

59(7.0)

22.9

22.9

26.0

20.8

CRM RCP criteria

R0

521(62.2)

50.6

44.2

 < 0.001

51.4

44.8

0.001

R1

317(37.8)

37.0

29.3

39.3

32.5

CRM three-tier criteria

 > 1 mm

521 (62.2)

50.6

44.2

 < 0.001

51.4

44.8

 < 0.001

0-1 mm

258(30.8)

40.3

30.6

42.4

35.2

0 mm

59 (7.0)

22.9

22.9

26.0

20.8

Adjuvant therapy

No

613(73.2)

50.1

41.4

 < 0.001

44.9

38.4

 < 0.001

Yes

225(26.8)

33.2

27.5

27.0

24.8

Extranodal invasion

No

207(47.8)

37.8

30.8

 < 0.001

38.5

32.3

 < 0.001

Yes

226(52.2)

24.3

21.7

24.6

19.2