Clinical efficacy of thoracoscopic and laparoscopic combined radical surgery in the treatment of elderly patients with esophageal cancer and its effect on immunity

Objective: To analyze the clinical efficacy of thoracic laparoscopic combined radical surgery in elderly patients with esophageal cancer and its effect on immune function. Methods: From December 2013 to January 2018, 92 elderly patients with esophageal cancer admitted to our hospital were randomly divided into two groups. Patients treated with conventional esophageal cancer radical surgery were classified as the control group (n=46). Patients treated with laparoscopic radical operation were classified as observation group (n=46), and the changes of surgical indexes, recurrence and immune function indexes were compared between the two groups. Results: 1 year after operation, the recurrence rate of the observation group was 23.91% (11/46), which was lower than that of the control group (85.96% (40/46). The difference between the groups was obvious, X2=37.0024, P<0.05; except for lymph node dissection. In addition, the other surgical indexes of the observation group were better than the control group, and the difference between the groups was significant (P<0.05). The levels of NK cells, CD4+/CD8+ and CD4+ cells in the observation group were higher than those in the control group. t=12.6325, 10.2362, 8.9626, P<0.05. Conclusion: The clinical efficacy of thoracic laparoscopic combined with radical surgery in elderly patients with esophageal cancer is significant, which can effectively improve the immunosuppressive state and reduce the recurrence rate.