Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy may increase the risk of severe anastomotic complications after esophagectomy with cervical anastomosis.

This small retrospective study suggests that nCRT exposes the future anastomotic site to doses of radiation that may impair healing of the subsequent cervical anastomosis. Our data further suggest that nCRT may increase the severity of cervical anastomotic complications, and this hypothesis needs to be tested in a large prospective study.