The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has updated and released the NCCN esophageal and esophagogastric junction cancers clinical practice guidelines in oncology (version 3. 2022). Compared with the version 4 of the guidelines in 2021, the 3 versions in 2022 have some updates and revisions, mainly focusing on molecular marker detection, perioperative treatment, advanced immunotherapy, radiotherapy and other aspects. This article will interpret the main content of the new edition of the guidelines, in order to enhance the understanding of the guidelines and guide the clinical practice of diagnosis and treatment.
Upper gastrointestinal tract cancers originating in the esophagus or esophagogastric junction constitute a major global health problem. On February 28, 2023, National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) released the clinical practice guidelines for esophageal and esophagogastric junction cancer (version 1.2023). This article will interpret the main updates related to the treatment and follow-up in this version compared to the version 5.2022, in order to provide the Chinese clinicians a better basis and reference for the diagnosis and treatment of the diseases.
According to the latest GLOBOCAN data released in 2024, esophageal cancer ranks the 11th in global cancer incidence and represents the 7th leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. In 2022, there were approximately 511000 newly diagnosed cases of esophageal cancer and 445000 deaths globally. On February 28, 2025, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) published updated clinical practice guidelines for esophageal and esophagogastric junction cancers (version 1.2025). This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the major diagnostic and therapeutic updates in the guidelines compared to the version 5.2024, encompassing key domains including screening stratification protocols, perioperative treatment optimization strategies, dynamic efficacy evaluation systems, molecular subtyping-guided therapeutic approaches, and immunotherapy expansion algorithms. The findings aim to provide references for esophageal cancer treatment in China.