| Purpose of the guideline: |
Esophageal cancer is one of the common malignant tumors in the world. In 2020, there will be more than 600,000 new cases of esophageal cancer in the world. Among them, 53% of new cases of esophageal cancer and 55.3% of esophageal cancer deaths occurred in China. According to the cancer burden of China in 2022 released by the National Cancer Center, the incidence and mortality of esophageal cancer ranked seventh and fifth among malignant tumors in China. With the development of immunotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), especially programmed death molecule-1 (PD-1)/programmed death molecule ligand -1(PD-L1) antibody, have shown good curative effect on esophageal cancer. In the second-line treatment of esophageal cancer, from first-line exemption treatment to perioperative treatment, many clinical trials have confirmed the efficacy and safety of ICIs, gradually rewriting the treatment pattern of esophageal cancer. With more and more ICIs being approved for indications of esophageal cancer in China, the Professional Committee of Integrated Rehabilitation of Esophageal Cancer of China Anti-Cancer Association took the lead in organizing experts in this field, referring to the latest domestic and foreign literature, clinical research data and systematic evaluation, and on the basis of experts' joint discussion, reaching a unified opinion and formulating this consensus, so as to provide reference for domestic colleagues to better apply ICIs to treat esophageal cancer. |
