Minimally invasive esophagectomy—behind patient-centered learning curves

A critical component of the management of patients with localized and locoregional esophageal cancer is surgical resection. The morbidity and mortality associated with open esophagectomy has led to the adoption of minimally invasive approaches (1). As a result, a growing body of research has demonstrated that minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) is associated with lower early perioperative morbidity [e.g., pulmonary insufficiency and infection (2)] and mortality (3) than historically reported after open esophagectomy. Importantly, MIE is also associated with similar oncologic outcomes, regardless of stage of disease (4).